


A Perfect Storm

by PerditusFic



Series: Love In Chaos [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2018-12-14 06:43:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11777622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerditusFic/pseuds/PerditusFic
Summary: After a year, with memories restored, Emma and Henry finally return to Storybrooke to reunite with their family as a new battle for Regina surfaces: The Wicked Witch. Sequel to Caught in the Storm. 3B Rewrite. [Established SQ.]





	1. Chapter 1

**Storybrooke, Maine**

**January 2, 2014**

Every morning, much like this one, Regina imagined that a blonde was there next to her. She remembered what the bed felt like when they woke up together. It was an empty space now but it was the only way to handle the thought of getting out of bed every day. This was the only way to accomplish such a feat.

She sat up and left the bed, giving no glance back there so it was easier to think that Emma was just still sleeping. That proved a challenge, however, since when Emma had once slept there her scent was left on the pillows. Pillows she slept on until they lost their former owner's smell.

Her phone started ringing but she refused the call and left for the bathroom. It was Snow or David. Hook was gone so it wasn't him. Sometimes Tinkerbell called to check on her. Every time someone checked in she had to avoid snapping at them.

They were being kind, she came to realize. It wasn't pity as she would have previously thought. Some of them actually shared her pain. But she didn't do kind and sympathetic. She did alone and suffering well enough. Change only caused her more hurt.

They were trying to find a way to help but the only thing that would help was to bring back Henry and Emma. And, unfortunately, there were just too many obstacles in the way of that ever happening.

She showered, got dressed, and pretended that maybe Henry went to class early.

She'd stuck to this routine since they arrived back in Storybrooke a month ago.

Today was the second day of the second month.

The days were supposed to get easier but she guessed it took a lot more time when she lost her son and the love of her life at the same time, in the same way. For the same reason: she loved them  _too_  much.

There was a quiet walk to the diner. When the bell of the diner rang, the stares went ignored. She ordered her coffee to-go with Ruby who tried to get more than those same words out of her. She asked if there was anything she could do at least once or twice a week and because there wasn't a direct dislike between them in the past, she politely declined each time.

When her phone rang again, she reluctantly picked up. "Hello?"

"Regina, I've been trying to call you all morning." Snow's voice filtered through the speaker and she couldn't really find the energy to be completely annoyed by it. Snow and David were really all she had left of Emma and Henry, even though Emma and Henry were much more pleasant company.

"Not today, Snow."

"You say that every time I call."

"I was hoping at some point you would catch the hint that I don't want to do this now or any other day."

Snow sighed on the other end. "Are you going back there again today?"

"I go there every day." Regina reached for the coffee extended to her and nodded her thanks to Ruby who tried to give her a smile that wasn't worried or concerned.

She left the diner with the coffee and headed  _there_.

"Maybe you shouldn't go so often. I know it hurts but the reminder may be making it worse."

"Wouldn't you like to know if we could actually leave this town?"

"Of course, I want to know but-"

"Don't." Regina warned.

"Regina-"

"I don't need your help, Snow. I want to be alone. I want be left alone."

Regina ended the call before Snow could say anything else. They had a similar conversation almost every day. Emma was a sore subject between the both of them. They both missed Emma and Henry and Snow chose optimism while Regina was torn between hope and depression.

She pocketed her phone and dumped her coffee into the trash can next to her. Not many people were out and about this morning. She was grateful for that as she wiped the tear welling up in her right eye and used her magic to transport her elsewhere.

As the smoke dissipated, Regina walked towards the white line. She closed her fists at her sides, taking a breath that was meant to calm her or at least keep her tears at bay. Regina raised her hands and reached out slowly, wishing for the barrier keeping them inside to be gone. To be one step closer to getting Emma and Henry back.

"Emma…" She whispered into the crisp winter air.

To her disappointment, her fingers were stopped by the green shimmer that had brought her sadness – and not really enough anger, to urge her to wreck any havoc on people – just sadness.

Her heart had not darkened after Emma left. Not that she could remember what happened after very well. The Savior and the son they shared brought her a happiness she'd never experienced before. So, no, her heart did not turn cold when her loves left.

It just started to shatter. Slowly.

* * *

**Long Island City, New York**

**January 9, 2014**

"Another!"

The glass slammed down against the counter, cracking around the rim. Luckily, it was small enough for the bartender to only give an eye roll from annoyance rather than a scowl from a broken glass.

"Are you sure about that buddy?" Richard, currently manning the bar, skeptically asked.

"Sorry…" The man frowned, pressing his fingers into the counter. "Maybe that was a bit rude. Although, I doubt you've ever met anyone who can drink like me and still navigate a ship at the same time. So, please, can you pour me another, mate?"

"Whatever you say." Richard pursed his lips before supplying another shot of tequila. The man wasn't wrong though, he didn't seem the least bit drunk despite the five shots of whiskey he had prior to this second shot of tequila.

He watched with a raised eyebrow as the man pushed his index finger into the counter, a menu trapped under it. He pulled it over to himself and examined it with look of confusion for several minutes before he slowly looked up and smirked.

"Add this, uh, Guinness to that."

Reluctantly, the bartender started to make the drink for him with a pensive expression. There was something weird about this guy. "What was your name again?" He asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

An eyebrow raised at him, something smug passing over his blue eyes. "Captain Hook."

Richard snorted and shook his head in amusement. This guy definitely drunker than he looked. It was a nice act though. Almost could've passed as sober.

"Captain Hook, huh? Where's the perm?"

A scowl was immediately received in return.

"Why does everyone keep mentioning that?"

"Look, if you don't know the cartoon then there's no way anyone will believe you anyway." Richard said sitting the Guinness down in front of him. "You don't look the part. Definitely not Robin Williams."

"Who?" Richard opened his mouth to say something but stopped at the dismissive hand wave. "Never mind. I suppose a more…modern name would suffice. It's Killian Jones."

"Modern. Sure." He said. "Why all the drinking? Fight with your girlfriend?"

"Of course not. The last fight I had with a woman was about Rum. Said she doesn't have taste for it. Ever the storyteller that woman." Killian grinned, bringing the tall glass of Guinness to his lips.

"This woman…you love her?"

"Love?" Killian sighed. "I don't love. Not very well but I do care about her. She's why I'm stuck here, in a place I don't know…trying to fix a happy ending."

"Ain't no happy endings on this side of New York. So you must be new to the city then."

"Very."

"How did you get here exactly?"

"Magic bean…Trolls, my ship. Everything happened and now I'm here. Lost and finally coming to terms with the fact that I don't understand the modern world as much as I thought."

Richard nodded. He chose not to voice his opinion. Magic beans and trolls? The guy had to be drunk or just insane or whatever woman he had spoke of really did a number on him. Either way, whatever his problem, that drink was going to be his last and he'd be sharing his odd story with a cab driver after this.

"I didn't think it'd be this bloody difficult to find two people." Killian muttered, not really speaking to the bartender anymore and realizing no way was he going to be believed anyway.

"You're looking for someone or people…at a bar?"

"I've been here a week with nothing to show for it."

"Well at least you've helped me reach my quota for the night." Richard joked.

"Right." Killian nodded. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out his wallet. "Payment."

It took him two days to really grasp the concept of American money. Shillings and dollars were not similar enough for him to easily transition. Regina hadn't gotten too deep in her teaching for that but at the very least she gave him money in case he ever really needed it outside of Storybrooke. Of course, there was the couple pay checks he'd gotten from being a new deputy at the station for the time they were living in peace, but he was learning this place was very expensive.

How convenient that curse was then because here he was in New York with a bunch of cash and something Regina had called a black card for emergencies only. Considering he had no earthly idea how to function out here and he was suppose to be searching for Emma, this was an emergency.

"How much?"

"Uh, you've racked up $87.61."

He fished out a hundred and left it on the counter before standing up from the stood, shoving the wallet back in its place. Richard raised an eyebrow at him, looking for any sign of keys. His pockets didn't clink or jingle so maybe it was safe to assume the man wasn't driving but he nodded over to the security to let them know to keep watch.

"Keep the change, mate." He called over his shoulder, exiting bar.

Fortunately for everyone, Killian Jones, did not own a car. Nor did he wish to.

The pirate walked back to his room at a small hotel where a book and a vial of liquid waited for him to finally return with a plan. A plan he still did not have.

* * *

**New York City, New York**

**January 11, 2014**

"Henry. Come on, buddy. Don't make us late. We got 15 minutes for breakfast." The blonde called as she plated scrambled eggs next to a small stack of pancakes. The sound of Henry's sneakers against the floor came from his room but they didn't get any closer to the table as she wished.

With a confused frown, Emma walked down the hall of their apartment to see what he was up to. She could've guessed the reason for the delay though as she opened the door to his room.

"Henry." She sighed.

The boy looked up from his frantic writing in his notebook with a sheepish expression and quickly scooped up his stuff into his back pack. She ruffled his hair when he passed her. Emma followed, now curious what had been taking up all his attention recently.

Henry sat down at the table and Emma picked up the two mugs left on the counter.

"Mom, you forgot it again." He smirked, cutting a bite of his pancakes.

"Right, right." Emma chuckled. He wrinkled his nose shortly when she kissed the top of his head on her way back into the kitchen. Shortly, the cinnamon was placed next to his hand and Emma sat down at across from him.

"Where's yours?" Henry asked. She'd opted for coffee this morning which was actually unusual.

"Gotta take a rain check on cocoa today, kid." She said, taking a long drink of coffee.

"Why?"

"I need the energy. I've been a little slammed at work. Sleep is for the dead."

"You should put that on your business card. It'll really attract customers."

Emma flung a napkin at him as he laughed. "Sure, smart guy. You try marketing that." She looked down to the headline of the newspaper, immediately uninterested. "So speaking of being busy…what have you been up to, Hen? You're distracted."

"It's my new story. I'm really inspired." His smile lit up the room.

"That's…great. Can I have a peek? A premise?" Emma asked.

"It's about the Evil Queen…"

"The Disney character?"

"Yes and no. Obviously that version is two dimensional. I think she should have a reason for wanting to hurt Snow White and being prettier isn't a good reason. She needs depth. A background."

"Yeah, I get all that but what is it about?"

"Well, I haven't gotten really far. She's trapped in a mirror in present day Tallahassee and someone buys her mirror but they can't see her…but she can see them and she falls in love. I haven't worked out the rest yet."

Henry bit his lip in worry after being met with silence. Silence that carried on for a long minute. He looked up from his plate and Emma blinked out of her thoughts. A smile slowly appeared on her face.

"That's really amazing Henry. I'd love to read that. It does sound sad though. Happy ending?"

"Duh. I'm not an angsty teenager…yet."

"Yet." Emma snorted, finishing off her coffee. "We have a busy day ahead of us…"

"Busy? It's just school and work."

"I can't believe you forgot. New puppy day, Henry."

His face lit up again. Two year old excitement returning to his preteen body in seconds. "You're bringing Duchess home after work, right?"

"Only if you hurry up so we won't be  _late_."

"Oh, my jacket!"

Emma shook her head watching him sprint to his room as she cleared the table.

* * *

**New York City, New York; Downington Middle School**

**January 14, 2014**

Killian took a deep breath and looked across the street at the horde of rushing parents and children.

His eyes instantly fell upon a blonde woman and a dark-haired boy walking side by side, no doubt discussing something to do with those comic book things Henry had shown him before Pan's curse had hit.

He smiled at the sight of them, having spent a whole year without seeing their faces. It wasn't until in that moment did he realize that he really missed them both.

With the backpack in his hand, he nervously smoothed back his now much longer hair. He cautiously looked to the street finding that only a bus and a few cars were down the road and driving annoyingly slow. So, he fell in line with the parents walking their kids across the street, keeping his eyes on the pair he was looking for.

It'd taken a few days trying to figure this out. He knew Emma but not this Emma. She could be completely different from the savior he first met. Emma did look different from where he was. Her clothes were certainly different but she was still Emma. Had to be.

As he got closer and closer his thoughts drifted to Regina. He wasn't sure how things were going with his friend but the last time he was with her, he knew bringing Emma and Henry back would do a lot of good. She wasn't in a terrible place but living without them wasn't nearly as manageable she tried to believe it was.

He left her to die in the hands of Greg and Tamara. So, he was going to bring them back to her. She was owed that much.

Emma and Henry stopped their walk to the big brick building. They were talking. Henry smiling and nodding. Now he was only a few feet away and closing the distance so he pulled out his phone, pretending to be very distracted by its contents with the replacement backpack in his hand.

"You need a haircut, man." Emma was saying, raking a hand through his messy hair.

"I know, Mom." Henry groaned.

Right then Killian collided with Henry, knocking the backpack off his shoulder and dropping the decoy one as well. Surprisingly, that didn't get noticed by either of them.

"Jesus. I'm sorry." He said to Emma then to Henry. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

Emma smiled tightly with a nod, suspicious as always. So, obviously still protective of her son. He picked up the bag he'd brought and handed it to Henry with a small smile. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No. I'm okay." Henry said, accepting his bag. "I'm fine."

"I'm sorry about that. I know better." He looked to Emma for her reaction, only finding an unreadable expression and a raised eyebrow. "I'm really sorry about that."

"It's alright. He's fine." Her eyes flickered to Henry. "You're alright, right, Henry?"

"I am. Really." The boy answered.

"Okay. That's good." Killian nodded, picking up Henry's backpack. "Enjoy your day."

"Yeah. You do the same." Emma replied with a small frown.

She and Henry watched him disappear into a crowd before the teen looked over to his mother.

"Did he look kind of familiar to you?" Henry asked with a frown of his own.

"Faintly. I don't know where from. Maybe looks like a guy from those emo bands you listen to…" From the hair and the thick beard, Henry was sure she had a point but that wasn't it. Emma shook her head and turned back to her son. "Alright, you need to get to class. Don't be late."

"Okay. See you later, Mom." He said, beginning to walk off with his bag over his shoulder.

"Hey, not so fast." She complained pulling him backwards by the hook in his bag. Knowing what he forgot, Henry gave her a hug and she wrapped an arm around him. She pressed a quick kiss to the top of his nearly shaggy hair and let him go before he could start complaining.

He darted from under her arm and towards the front doors of the school.

"Have a good day, kid." She called after him, fishing out her car keys.

"You, too, Mom." Henry said back, waving at her.

He stepped into the cool building, glad he left his jacket in his locker the previous day. The first warning rang over his head and he hurried to locker to grab the homework he'd finished Friday.

The blue locker, labeled 108 was conveniently two seconds from his homeroom.

"Good morning, Mr. Swan." A tall man with bright red hair and thick rimmed glasses passed by him.

"Morning, Mr. Cooper."

"Ready for that science experiment today, I hope."

"Absolutely." Henry agreed with a nod.

"If you can get into class before the bell, you can help me start setting up."

"Sure." He said, twisting in the combination quickly and yanking it open.

His science teacher looked happy to hear the news as he disappeared down another hallway. "Thank you, Henry."

Henry pulled his bag from his shoulder and unzipped to put his social studies book inside. To his surprise as he dropped in the heavy book, it fell in easily. That usually wasn't the case since he always had two notebooks for writing so naturally it needed a shove to be properly placed in the bag. The other surprise was that it was suddenly much heavier, well at least he noticed the major difference.

He pulled the book back out and frowned when a big brown book took the place of all his stuff.

"What the-" Henry frowned deeply.

"Henry, class is starting in a moment." His homeroom teacher said from the doorway to the classroom.

"Okay."

He zipped the bag back up with his confusion only deepening. He grabbed an empty notebook from his locker and closed it back. The bag was over his shoulder again, his book and notebook in his hand at his side.

"Can I borrow a pencil?" He asked as he stepped over the threshold of the classroom just when the bell rang.

"Of course, you can, Henry." His teacher said.

Henry walked to his desk with a pensive expression. A big brown book with four words in bright gold.

Once Upon A Time.


	2. Chapter 2

_Regina got out her keys to get into the house as quickly as possible. Picking up on paperwork after Neverland had been a little more complicated than she had expected. Honestly, the town didn't really get up to anything while they were gone so imagine her surprise when three burst pipes and an unusual, but minor tremor caused enough damage that she had to sign off on the budget for reconstruction._

_So, she was definitely happy to be home. At least those were her thoughts before she opened the door to the smoke detector blaring and smoke smearing the air. Henry was yelling about something and Regina was already stressed out enough. Now the house was on fire._

_"Henry?" She called rushing into the house closing the door behind her, phone and keys still clutched in her hands. "Henry?"_

_The sound of pans clattering was the only reply she seemed to get as Henry's shouting went silent. She briskly hurried towards the kitchen waving the smoke away from her face._

_"Emma?!"_

_When she arrived at the doorway to the kitchen she heard the obvious sound of the fire extinguisher being sprayed. Henry was the first to appear in her line of sight. His hair was disheveled but was smiling sheepishly with black smears across his face. He engulfed her in a hug and she hugged him back if only to calm her rapidly beating heart._

_"Hi mom." Henry mumbled into her coat._

_"Henry…" She freed a hand from his back and used her magic to clear up the smoke. Her shoulders deflated instantly spotting Emma holding the extinguisher and looking a little more disheveled than Henry did. Actually, she just looked completely devastated, which worried Regina. "Emma, are you okay? Are you hurt?"_

_"No." Emma shook her head but didn't look any less distraught. "I was just…"_

_Regina raised an eyebrow at the blonde and turned to Henry. "Are you okay, darling?"_

_"I'm fine, mom. We were just trying to help out."_

_"I know, my little prince. Thank you." She kissed his forehead and brushed his growing hair out of his face. "Go get cleaned up, okay?"_

_"Okay." He nodded, heading towards the door. He stopped short and turned around to her. "Can we have pizza for dinner?"_

_Regina looked around the kitchen with a sigh. There was no way she was cleaning that up enough to cook dinner before Henry's bedtime. She had no choice but to relent. Giving him a quiet nod, she shooed him out the room and averted her attention back to Emma who was still hugging the extinguisher as she looked at the source of the kitchen disaster._

_The brunette put her keys and phone down on the counter and walked over to Emma. She examined the oven that was about as well done as whatever was inside and there was one medium sized scorch mark on the counter. Everything else was just smoky and covered in flame retardant._

_"Sweetheart, are you sure you're okay?" She asked, gently touching her shoulder before firmly taking the extinguisher from her arms and placing it on the counter. "Emma?"_

_"I just wanted to make you dinner. That's all…" Emma said absently, still staring at the oven._

_"What were you making?" Regina questioned._

_"Meatloaf…Well, I was trying. I don't even know what happened."_

_"As long as you and Henry are alright, it doesn't matter how it happened."_

_"But-"_

_"It's the thought that counts and it was very sweet."_

_Emma shook her head, raking a hand through her hair. "I'm useless."_

_"Oh, Emma." Regina turned her around so that they were face to face. "Don't say that. Not everyone can cook and it's perfectly fine if you can't."_

_"No, but what if you break both your hands…or you get hurt in general. I can't cook and we'd be eating take out. What if you couldn't ever use your arms again to cook or do anything and you're stuck with me?"_

_"Emma, my god, where is all of this coming from?" Regina asked with furrowed brow. "You and I both know the chances of that happening to me are very slim. Breaking both hands, however, sounds very much like you. In any case, if it really means that much to you, I can teach you how to cook."_

_"You'd do that?" Emma asked, sounding surprised._

_"I'm your true love. I have a feeling it's my responsibility to teach you so you don't kill yourself making pasta." Just as she was hoping, Emma gave a small smile of amusement that she tried to hide. Regina brought her hands up to Emma's face and kissed her nose. "You're perfect how you are. You're incredibly sweet and selfless…and, of course, willing to put up with me of all people. You are also a giant idiot but I still love you."_

_"I love you, too." Emma grinned and pulled Regina into a hug and kissed her a few times on her chin and then on her lips. "Sorry about the counter, though."_

_"It's replaceable." Regina said. "You are not."_

She blinked out of the memory with a tired sigh. It was a favorite memory of hers. She wasn't sure why but surely it had to do with the fact that the coffee maker was now next to the spot on the counter that still held a small singe from the incident.

Regina brushed her fingers against the spot and pulled her hand away quickly when she realized she would be late for work if she spent any more time remembering Emma's many incidents that left marks here and there around the house. They almost were the only things that proved Emma once lived here. That Regina was once loved by someone very special.

Emma's scent had faded from her pillow and her other belongings. Regina didn't have enough energy to be ashamed or embarrassed that she cried for hours after having noticed Emma's favorite sweatshirt no longer smelled like Emma.

Henry's things still smelled of him but soon that would fade too. She felt she'd already had Emma slip away from her even more but once Henry's things just smelled of clean linen or an unused room, that's when it would get ever harder to live there alone.

So, for now, those spots were all she was going to have left of them but she would have to learn to reminisce when convenient if she were to attempt to find a way to move on. Though Regina was sure she would never be able to, eventually, she would have to actually try.

Regina turned on the coffeemaker and sighed to herself, leaning heavily on her hands against the counter as she tried not to give that scorch mark another glance.

* * *

Emma groaned, slapping her hand against her alarm. And even though the annoying sound stopped, there was no off button for the barking right beside her bed. She removed her head from under her two pillows and glanced over the edge of the bed to the wide awake puppy sitting up in her little doggy bed.

"You couldn't just give me ten more minutes, Duchess?" Emma asked tiredly.

Had she known Cavalier King Charles Spaniel meant pampered, spoiled puppy she wouldn't have…well, no. She still would have adopted the little diva, she just wouldn't have been so surprised.

She dropped her hand down to the puppy and grinned when Duchess nipped at her fingers and then nudged at her hand impatiently.

"Okay, okay. I'm up." Emma sighed, pushing herself out of bed and wiping her hand across her face. She pulled open her nightstand drawer and grabbed her notebook, flipping to a new page. She uncapped a pen and wrote something down. "She was there again, Duchess. I burned down her kitchen and she didn't flip out. Sounds like the woman of my dreams, huh?"

The puppy sneezed and Emma just closed her book. She put it back in its hiding place and got out of bed, scooping up the dog to her right arm. A yawn escaped her lips as she set the puppy down on the indoor potty patch she found at the store that surprisingly worked.

"I pee, you pee, and then you sit there while I finish, deal?" Emma asked absently. Duchess knew exactly what to do, seeming to like routine, relieving herself just as Emma closed the door to the separate part of the bathroom where the toilet was.

As instructed, Duchess moved off the patch and stayed in one spot while Emma got ready for work. Although, Emma was sure the only reason she was listening was because she didn't like her paws to touch the ground. She  _had_  to be carried if she was going anywhere.

Emma picked her up and put her on the bed while she got ready and then carried her into the kitchen. She sat her in front of her food bowl, poured in the expensive dog food, and started herself some coffee.

"Henry?" She called, heading down the hallway after sitting down some water for Duchess. "Time to get up, kid."

She opened the door to his room and found him reading the book again. She wasn't sure where he got it from but he had been so caught up in it since he found it. Though, it wasn't much of a problem considering he wasn't getting too distracted from everything else going on in his life. Still did his homework. Still practicing hard for baseball.

"Well, at least you're up." Emma said, leaning against the door frame. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Henry slowly pulled his eyes away from the book and looked up to her. "Um, I'm really just feeling cereal today."

"Okay, then. Come on. Can't be late today."

Henry closed the book and shoved it into his bag with his notebook. "You say that every day."

"And it is true everyday." Emma argued.

* * *

"David…"

"Okay, that's upside down..."

"David-"

"F…to 1B…" David frowned looking at the instructions to the crib he was supposed to be building. "This makes no sense. That part is not even in English."

Snow grinned at him as she sat on the couch with a protruding belly and an aching back.

The whole waking up nearly eight months pregnant thing wasn't at all what she was expecting from a curse. No one was expecting to be put under yet another curse where their memories were now missing either. She remembered saying goodbye to Henry and Emma and going back to the Enchanted Forest. Anything after that, for an entire year, was just missing.

"David, take a break." She sighed. He looked at her in concern and dropped the instructions to the floor.

"What's wrong?"

"How are we doing this right now David?" Snow asked.

"Doing what?"

"Building cribs and looking for a house…"

"What's wrong with that?" He questioned, coming to sit next to her on the couch.

"David, we have a daughter out there somewhere. It's like we're giving up on ever finding her again. It took some time for her to even consider forgiving us for putting her through that wardrobe…What were we thinking? Another baby?"

"I know for a fact that we weren't looking to replace Emma. Nothing could ever replace her."

"Then how did we end up with another baby?" Snow hissed.

"Maybe things just got rough. Maybe one of us was having a hard time and…the Enchanted Forest isn't known for its excellent forms of birth control." David chuckled and Snow tried not to show any amusement by it. "The heat of the moment. Maybe we just forgot to consider the consequences…I don't know but we're not replacing Emma."

"We still have plenty of other problems, David."

"Snow-" He started, taking her hands in his.

"Now is not a good time to have a baby. We're cursed…again. Our memories are gone. And then there's…Regina. I'm worried about her."

"I know."

"She works and then she goes home. I can't imagine how the house feels without Henry and Emma there."

"We're going to get them back, Snow. For her and for us."

"I don't doubt that but we haven't found them yet. Regina is taking this worse than anyone. We have each other, David. Regina doesn't have much of anyone. Hook's gone and he was her friend."

David nodded, sighing to himself in frustration. "Maybe I'll start helping her out a little more with finding a way to take down the barrier at the town line. Could help to have a Charming to yell at…"

"She may yell but I'm sure she'll secretly appreciate the company. Regina just needs to know she's not alone. We'll see if Tinkerbell and I can't convince her to have lunch or at least coffee."

"Well, then that's settled." He clapped his hands against his knees and glared over to the pieces of crib laying on the floor. "I think I'm going to take a break from that."

"I think you should." Snow smirked.

* * *

Henry watched his mother pull off in the bug and then turned back to the front of the school where everyone was walking into the building and parents were talking. He looked down to the book in his hands and up to the familiar man sitting on a nearby bench with a coffee in his hand. He had a pair of sunglasses on and was looking down at his phone.

It had to be him. That man was the only thing out of place since he got the book. His bag hadn't gone missing and the book hadn't shown up until they ran into each other. There something weird about that book. It gave him a weird feeling. Like he was missing something important about all those characters inside. On top of that, he wanted to know why the man left it with him.

He walked over to the bench, taking a seat on the opposite side and placed the book in the space between them.

"Morning, lad." The man greeted.

"You gave me the book." Henry stated.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you'll believe."

"Believe what?" Henry frowned. "They're just stories."

"You don't really think that, do you? That they're just stories?"

"They are…who are you?"

"Didn't find me in there?"

Henry examined his face with a small frown. He was becoming faintly familiar to him. Not just from the book either. It was like they knew each other once but surely Henry would've remembered him if he dated his mother. That wasn't who he was though. Henry could certainly only remember one guy a long time ago and a woman not too recently either.

He glanced down to his book and then back up to the man. Cut his hair short and leave only a bit of stubble on his face. Henry's eyes widened and he let out a small gasp. "You're Captain Hook?"

"At your service Prince Henry." Killian bowed his head slightly. "I gave it to you because you're the truest believer. Your family needs you to believe in them."

"My family?"

"Emma, of course, needs you to believe. Regina, your grandparents, your father..."

"My father?" He asked suspiciously. "Regina? The Evil Queen?"

"She adopted you and she's not that person anymore. She loves and misses you and your mother very much." When Henry started to look confused, Killian sat down the coffee at his feet and pulled off the sunglasses. "Everything in that book is true. All the people are real."

"But-"

"We need you, Henry."

"How?"

Killian pulled the vial from his coat and sat it down on top of the storybook. "I'm a stranger to you, I know, and there are rules about that but this is important. I'm asking you to drink this, lad, and if you do, I won't ask you to come with me. You can leave."

Henry picked up the vial and looked at it intensely. "What is it?"

"It's a memory potion." He tapped a finger against the glass. "It took a lot…cost a lot to get that."

"Cost?"

"My ship but it's a mere possession. If I really wanted another, I could get one but it's not important."

"The Jolly Roger. You gave up the Jolly Roger for this? Why are you doing this? Why is it so important to you?"

"I owe your mother a great deal. And I promised her she would see you again. Rather not start off my redemption with a big failure with something so important."

"Okay. But if I don't get any memories back, I'm telling my mom." Henry threatened.

Killian nodded. "No need. I'll go away." He reached down beside him and picked up Henry's backpack.

Henry pursed his lips as he sat it down next to his feet. The teen looked down to the vial, giving one last skeptical glance to the man. He pulled the cork from the vial and hesitantly brought it to his lips, noticing Killian was no longer look at him anymore.

"Don't drink it all. Save some for Emma." He commented, just as the potion hit his tongue. There was still half left when he was done and Henry put the cork back in with a frown.

"Nothing is happen-"

Killian caught the vial as it fell from Henry's hand as the boy gasped in surprise. Images flashed before his eyes. Memories. The family he couldn't believe had forgotten. His grandparents. His dad.

His mom.

Henry inhaled a deep breath and looked to the pirate beside him. A smile broke out on his face and sprung from his spot on the bench. "It's you!" He exclaimed and Killian grinned. "You're here in New York."

"Indeed, I am."

"My mom sent you?"

"Not exactly. I made it my mission after…" He paused. It was something probably shouldn't mention to him. "Well, that doesn't matter right now. I saw how upset your mother was with you both gone so I took it upon myself to try and find you. And then during my travels I received a message that there was a new curse."

"A new curse?" Henry said to himself. "Well, we have to go home. Back to my mom."

"While I agree with you, Henry, one thing at a time." Killian reasoned. "You still have to get to your lessons for today, of course."

"We have more important things to do."

With a sigh, Killian crouched down in front of him with the vial in his hand. "Storybrooke is important. Getting back to your family is as well but you have an important job right now. You have to keep this safe and get the rest of this to your mother. Maybe in her drink."

"We have to go now then."

"Just trust me on this one if you show up with a stranger, no way is she going to want to have a drink anytime soon. And if your mother isn't convinced we have no way to Storybrooke anyway. I can't drive and neither can you."

"I guess you're right. But how can I focus through the day knowing all this?" Henry huffed folding his arms across his chest.

"You're the son of the Evil Queen and the Savior, I'm sure you'll find a way." Killian assured pushing the vial into his coat pocket. "Now you should be off. Doesn't that bell ring soon?"

"Yeah." Henry sighed. "I'll see you after school?"

"Send me a message once your mother remembers. Then we'll see each other."

"Okay." Henry nodded, handing over his phone so that Killian could leave the number.

"Here you are." The pirate pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Henry along with his phone. He took it seeing that it was a photo of him with his mothers. He looked up to the pirate and smiled gratefully.

To Killian's surprise, Henry hugged him and he returned it tentatively.

"Thank you for coming to get us."

* * *

**I'm pouring it into her water. Will that work?**

**_Yes, it should._ **

**Do you know where we live? We should probably get going as soon as possible.**

**_I should be there in five minutes after you send me the message. Let your mother decide when we leave. You do still have a life here._ **

**Okay. She's on her way in.**

Henry sighed but put down his phone and grabbed Emma's water bottle from the refrigerator. He gave a side eye to the puppy that was watching him with a tilted was also the same look his mother had gave him after he practically tackled her to the ground for a hug. It felt like he was seeing her for the first time again. Completely slipped his mind not to act unusual.

"I think you'll like my mom. She was a Queen once." He told the puppy. "But my Ma still says she still is, so I guess she is. Either way, she's sophisticated like you are."

Duchess barked in response but Henry shrugged it off as he poured the potion into the bottle. He closed the cap and shook it up.

Emma was just coming from her run so she'd probably drink the whole bottle in one go. It was going to be more effective than putting it in her coffee in the morning since it took her forever to finish it.

He pushed it back into the refrigerator and grabbed the vial off the counter. Duchess yapped at him as he walked by and he rolled his eyes as he picked her up from the floor. "Puppies are supposed to run around and stuff." He muttered, sitting her down on the couch next to him and resumed his video game.

After a few minutes, he heard keys on the other side of the door and was actually really excited for his mother to arrive. He was ready to go back to Storybrooke as soon as possible. Although, he knew Emma might be in shock for a bit but she'd be ready to get back to his mom too. They were True Loves and his brunette mother had been living without them for a long time. Surely, she would be worried about her living all alone all this time.

"I hear a video game." Emma called coming down the hallway. "Did you finish your homework, kid?"

"Yep." Henry answered, glancing to Duchess who made herself comfortable on the cushion beside him. "Good run?"

"Yeah, great." She replied, pulling her other earbud out as she laid down her phone and keys. She opened the refrigerator, distracting Henry from his game. He kept his eyes on the screen but he was listening so hard in anticipation his virtual car was driving on the sidewalk and roughly missing turns. He paused the game and turned around as she brought the water to her lips.

As he expected, Emma gulped down the water in record time. She let out a relieved breath. Then the potion surely hit her...and pretty hard, too. Her face dropped and the water bottle dropped from her hand, making the loudest thudding sound possible. Henry watched her breathing pick up as she held on to the counter with a tight grip.

"Ma?" Henry questioned standing up from the couch. Duchess started barking, sensing someone was in distress. "Ma, are you okay?"

Emma's breathing became labored and unexpectedly, her nose started to bleed. Henry's eyes widened and he was about to go for his phone to call Killian when she sucked in a sharp breath.

"Ma?"

"Oh god, my head." Emma moaned, bringing her hand to her face. Henry swiped the towel from the table and rushed over to her. They were both surprised to hear a jingling collar as Duchess walked over to them both.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked, handing her the towel. 

She took it and held it against her nose. She put her free hand on his shoulder and looked at him intensely. "Henry…"

"I know. I remember."

"Oh." She leaned against the counter. "Hook…he was here…"

"He gave me the memory potion. Although that didn't happen to me. Maybe I gave you too much."

"I have a lot more memories than you do, Hen." Emma closed her eyes and sighed. "Wow, that potion had a punch."

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation and Henry went to go answer it. He opened the door to Killian and the man looked inside to Emma. "Swan?" He asked.

"Captain." Emma chuckled. "Sorry I didn't recognize you earlier."

"It's alright. Good to see you, love." He smiled, walking in with Henry after he closed the door.

"How did you know to come?" Henry questioned.

"You called but didn't say anything and then I heard something was wrong. I needed to make sure you were alright."

"She got a nosebleed." Henry supplied, going over to his phone to end the call he had made without knowing.

"I'm fine. Really, fine."

"That's good to hear, love. Because there's a new curse and Storybrooke needs their savior again."

"Storybrooke…" Emma mumbled. Her many dreams came pouring back into her head. "Oh god, how long has it been? A year?"

"And then some, I assume." Killian said. He and Henry looked at her curiously but maybe it should have been very obvious what she was thinking about. "What is it, Swan?"

"How could I forget her? I can't believe it." Emma said, pulling the towel away from her face. She walked up to Henry and kissed his head. Henry smiled at her knowing exactly what she was talking about but Killian was still confused.

"Regina."


	3. Chapter 3

"How long did it take you to learn this?" David closed yet another book with a disgruntled expression. He sheepishly pushed the tome onto the stack that sat between them. Regina glanced at the pile that had been steadily growing since they started a few hours ago.

"I don't recall." Regina answered, turning a page in the magic book that was becoming more useless with every word she read. "Not long, I imagine."

"But it's elvish."

"And I don't really expect you to understand any of it."

David stood up with a sigh, looking around the room for anything he could do other than reading. Regina looked up at him from the book in her lap. She had spent the last hour wondering why she'd even agreed to let him help. Charmings and magic weren't a complimentary pair.

"You can go. I'm not forcing you to be here." She said.

"I volunteered." David countered.

"Not to be helpful." Regina muttered, closing the book and picking up another.

"Well, yeah, I may have had some ulterior motive for being here." Regina raised an eyebrow at him, not at all amused. David raised his hands innocently. "It's not what you think…" He let a tired breath and sat down next to her hesitantly. "This isn't me thinking you're up to something evil. I care about being able to leave town, but we'll work it out."

"What are you here for then?" Regina questioned in suspicion.

"I…we, me and Snow, we're worried about you."

"Why? I'm perfectly fine."

"Being without Henry and Emma has been hard for us, but I can't imagine how is for you." David quietly admitted. "At the very least Snow and I have each other, and you'll always have us, but surely the mansion isn't the warmest place for you right now."

"We're not friends." Regina scoffed, getting up and putting distance between them. She wasn't addressing the fact that when she'd woken up in Storybrooke again, she had felt a little closer to them.

"Sure. After years of trying to kill each other, it's perfectly fine that we'll never become friends, but you're in love with my daughter. That does mean we have a connection."

"What do you want me to say?" Regina asked voice raised in frustration.

"I want you to talk about how you feel. It doesn't even have to be me you talk to, but it has to be someone. It'll eat you alive."

"All anyone recommends to me is therapy."

"Archie can't tell anyone. We all figured you want the comfort not letting anything vulnerable get out into the public. You rarely trust anyone, so you end up doing things alone."

"Alone is more efficient for me."

"Then when do you have time to address your emotions?" David asked.

"I don't."

"Well, I'm here anyway." Regina averted her eyes, refusing to look at him. David turned his eyes over to the pile of books he hadn't yet looked through. "You have any books that are in English? I'd be more helpful with those."

Regina gestured to the shelf of books across the room with a furrowed brow.

* * *

"He is completely knocked out." Emma laughed. Killian turned around to look at the teen dead asleep in the back and grinned.

"Well, I'm a bit tired myself. I'm sure he'll wake up as soon as we hit Storybrooke again." He said watching as they pulled into a gas station.

"We gotta fill up again. I wasn't planning on a road trip yesterday." Emma informed, parking at the closest pump. She unbuckled the seatbelt and grabbed her wallet from the cup holder. "I'll be right back."

Killian gave a single nod to her and watched her disappeared into the building. He took another glance at Henry in the back and decided to stretch his legs while they had a few minutes. Hopefully, they were close to town.

Spend a few months in that town and then somehow you end up with people you miss. He missed the banter with Regina. Maybe not just that either. Missed her. He missed Neal.

"Find the meaning of the universe?" Emma asked. He turned to her see that she was about to start pumping the gas. She pushed a bag over to him on the roof the car. "Henry is always hungry. I can imagine $25 worth of snacks will hold both of you over."

"I don't recall Regina ever complaining about me being a bottomless pit." He smirked, going through the bag. Nothing inside look remotely familiar, but then again, his exposure to things of this world had been minimal before the curse had taken them back to the Enchanted Forest.

"Fair enough." She said, taking something from the bag. "You know the whole beard thing kind of works for you…"

"Little less pirate?"

"Kind of." Emma shrugged.

"Well, we'll see if Neal likes it. If not, enjoy it while it lasts."

"I'm sure he'll be all right with it." Emma laughed. "So, um, I know you weren't there long but what happened when you were in the Enchanted Forest?"

"What do you mean, love?"

"How was it?"

"Not Storybrooke." He chuckled.

"No, I mean-"

"I know you want to ask about her, Emma. Just ask."

The blonde pulled her fingers through her hair. "How was she from what you remember?"

"Endlessly in love with you." Killian said with a smile, which quickly turned a bit sad. "But, of course, it was her curse as well. In love with you and forced to give back the things she loved most...I can't imagine what that felt like."

"So, she…"

"Regina was okay, but she wasn't doing too well without you and Henry."

"Is that why you came?" She asked quietly.

"I owe her a lot." Emma tilted her head at him, seeing the seriousness come across his face. "I left to her to die at the hands of a madman. Owen…I was going to let him torture and kill her, and there's no real way to repay that. So, I do what I can."

"What gentlemen's handbook have you been reading?" Emma scoffed, hiding a laugh.

He only smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Regina is my friend, and this is what friends do?"

"No. This is what you do for someone you love."

"Aye." He sighed, averting his eyes. "But I don't love."

"The closest thing you can find to it?"

"Then whatever that is what I feel for Regina. My friend." He frowned down to the cake that he'd pulled from the wrapper. Emma gesture for him to eat it and he took half the cake in one bite. He chewed a few times with a pensive expression but eventually nodded his head in approval. "Besides if I had stayed, I would've missed out on chocolate and small cakes."

"One of many reasons why I prefer being here." Emma chuckled.

"Swan, I also came back for you because along with your parents and Regina and Neal, I missed you too."

"If I remembered I would've missed you too." She smiled as she finished pumping and took the bag down from the roof. "Well, let's get moving. Home is only another hour and a half away."

"The sooner, the better. I'm sure Regina would be happy to see you…or, happy is surely an understatement."

"You think so?"

"Did you get the part endlessly in love? I do think so." He smirked as he got into the car. Emma followed behind him and turned over the engine, putting the bag of food next to Killian's feet.

* * *

_"You're late." Aurora greeted, stepping away to meet her husband who was hurriedly hopping off his horse. He gave a sheepish smile as he walked up to her._

_"I came as quickly as I could."_

_"I'm hungry, and I missed you." She mumbled. They shared a short kiss before Phillip pulled away and tilted his head at her. She raised an eyebrow at him when his hand fell to her stomach. "Don't..."_

_"You're always hungry now. For two, of course."_

_"And cranky, I know. There are royal responsibilities, I'm sorry."_

_"None of them match my responsibilities to you." He grinned. "I'm the one that should be sorry."_

_Another kiss was soon to be initiated but shortly interrupted by a sudden rumbling. When they turned, dark clouds were rushing towards them. They were purple, very familiar to the couple, consuming everything in its path without pause._

_"What is that? A storm?" Aurora asked, walking forward. Phillip hurried behind her to catch arm._

_Thunder rumbled again, shaking the ground beneath their feet. The horses startled almost immediately and sprinted off._

_"That's no storm. It's magic. We need to get to safety now." Phillip yelled over the raging purple getting too close to escape._

_He took Aurora's elbow and turned her away, they both started to run despite the obviousness that getting away from it now was impossible. Taking as much cover as they could, the clouds washed over them but surprised the pair as it disappeared, leaving them unharmed._

_"What was that?" She frowned._

_"I don't know, but whatever-" Phillip stopped as they stood up again._

_The last thing he expected to see was a group of people that had left the realm long ago. The Evil Queen, Captain Hook...Charming and Snow._

_"Snow?" Aurora called. She and Phillip walked up to the group with furrowed brows. "What happened?"_

_"We're back." Snow answered, glancing to David and Regina beside her. She didn't want to acknowledge how devastated Regina looked._

* * *

_"How have things been since we left?" Snow asked. "The Orges?"_

_"Defeated." Aurora grinned and Phillip returned one of his own._

_Regina watched the interaction, ignoring the pirate leaning against the pillar beside her. He was muttering about being back here while carefully watching Neal talk to Ruby and Tinkerbell. Regina glanced down to the clothes and let out a small sigh. The Evil Queen once again. She'd known far too much happiness with Emma and Henry that now it was so clear to her how lonely that existence had been._

_She was able to tolerate Snow and David now and she wasn't after the woman. Now she wondered how she ever found satisfaction in spending every waking moment plotting revenge. But she did just let go of what she loved most._

_Her eyes lifted to the pair in front of her and she was apparently missing Henry because the first thing she said since they arrived had been unexpected._

_"Congratulations." Regina said quietly. Snow and David looked at her and then looked over at Aurora and Phillip._

_They had given her a few wary looks but considering she wasn't clashing with the Charmings, maybe caution wasn't necessary. Aurora paused but then blushed and grinned. "Is it that obvious?" She asked. Snow examined her a little closer and smiled with a nod._

_"Seriously?" Killian scoffed._

_Regina jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. Both Snow and Aurora immediately started to talk animatedly about it and Regina regretted opening her mouth. "Why is she pregnant and I'm the one who's sick?" She muttered and Killian smirked at her._

_"Thank you...Your Majesty." Phillip bowed his head slightly, managing to miss what she'd said. "We have much to celebrate. You and your friends are welcome in our kingdom. If you need anything, we are at your service."_

_"Thank you but all we need are horses. We have our own kingdom...our own castle." David said._

_Snow touched his arm. "Our castle was destroyed in the curse."_

_"Well played, Mills." Killian practically snickered and Regina leveled him with a glare. "Where will we return to now?"_

_"Not everything was destroyed..." Regina admitted. All eyes turned to her, including those of the dwarves and everyone else who had been previously occupied before then. "My castle is still here. I protected it."_

_"And it's still standing after the curse blew through here?" David asked, skeptically._

_"We can confirm it's still there." Aurora inserted. "It's untouched."_

_"Well..." He met Regina's eyes and let out a small sigh. Her eyes were despondent and if she had still been the woman that they'd known when the curse was first cast, she wouldn't have willingly mentioned it. She also just lost her True Love and her son, there was no room for the Evil Queen anymore. "If you'll have us then?"_

_Regina was surprised by the sincerity in his voice. She glanced around and nodded her head. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to share."_

_"Then we're set." David nodded and reached out a hand to Phillip. "Thank you again for your hospitality. We should begin preparations."_

_"Best of luck to you all. If you need anything at all, we'd happy to help." He returned the shake and they regrouped with the others._

_"So where are we going?" Ruby questioned._

_"Regina's castle." Snow answered. "Everyone will be confused and need leadership but we can't help if there's no kingdom, so we'll return united. It'll do everyone some good."_

_David hovered a hand against Regina's back and leaned close to her ear. "You don't have to go through this alone."_

* * *

Plenty of people had seen the bug practically flying through the streets. Emma expected nearly the whole town knew they were back by the time she'd made to the place she and Henry started calling home before everything was interrupted.

There was so much that probably need to happen the moment they arrived but only one thing really mattered. Snow and David were important but since the moment she had woken up, Regina had been on her mind.

Regina, who had sacrificed her happiness to save everyone from a curse. She deserved to be the first. Not to mention, Emma felt the longing as if she'd remembered the feeling of living an entire year without her. The first thing she wanted was to be wrapped in Regina's arms and to hold her love and never let go. It was number one. Nothing else could come first.

So, the moment they stopped in the driveway of the mayoral mansion, Emma and Henry hurried to the front door. The boy was vibrating in excitement as Emma reached for the hidden door key that was, thankfully, still hidden away under a rock behind the bushes.

"Hurry up, Mom." Henry said impatiently. Emma would've said something but she was taking slower than they had the patience for.

"You're stunning, love." Killian whispered into her ear from behind. "She'll still think so, too."

Emma pulled her hand out of her hair and finally put the key in the lock and opened the front door. Henry rushed in instantly.

"Mom!" He shouted.

"Henry, no running." Emma called taking a step inside. She took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar smell of the house. Memories danced in her head as a smile played on her lips. "Regina! We're back!"

She rolled her eyes hearing Henry's feet pounding against the floor upstairs. Killian closed the door behind them, watching Emma hurriedly walk into the kitchen. "Regina?" He listened for a reply or at least a rush of feet to come at the sound of Emma's voice but nothing happened.

A moment later, Emma came back to the foyer with a frown. Henry came down the steps with a sullen expression. Emma put her arm out and he walked under it to lean into her side.

"She's not here." He sighed.

"I know, kid. But she's here somewhere. You know her, she's probably working. We'll go see her at town hall, okay?" Emma assured, squeezing his shoulders as she looked to Killian. "If you want to go find Neal that's okay."

"It's fine. I want to see this through. I promised to return you both safely to Regina."

"Alright, then. Town hall it is." Emma said walking towards the door. "Henry, you can leave your bag we'll be back."

* * *

Half a day would have to be good enough. The large stack of paperwork had been cut in half and a migraine was now completely taking over her head.

Regina walked into the quiet mansion and tiredly closed the door behind her. She shrugged out of her coat and left it on the hook. Her keys clinked against the glass bowl on the side table and she planned to take a long hot bath and then fall asleep until sunrise. Maybe some chamomile tea in between.

She had every intention of doing it until something caught her eye. Her feet stopped in front of the living room and she slowly turned to the backpack sitting against the doorframe. It was Henry's. It wasn't one she'd seen before but she was certain it was Henry's. There was Iron Man all over it and her son was the only one she knew that would've carried that.

"Henry?" She shakily called. "Are you…here?"

When there was no response, Regina reached out to the bag. It felt real under her hands but surely Henry wasn't there. He didn't know who she was. No one could enter or leave town. It could've all been chalked up to the fact that sleep hadn't come easily since the moment they appeared in town again. The bag was real though.

She looked into all of the rooms of the first floor, finding no trace of Henry but what she did find was Emma's familiar scent. It had faded long ago from their room. She had run out of sweatshirts and sweaters of the Savior's to wear that still smelt of her.

"Henry?" She called again. "Emma?"

If they hadn't somehow returned to her, there was no other way such things to now exist in her house unless she was severely deprived of her sleep, which she was. But it couldn't have been that bad. Though it was becoming evident the bag's presence and Emma's scent were caused by her own mind…and magic.

Maybe chamomile wasn't going to do it today. In fact, it was best she wasn't present in the house at all for a while. Regina gave another glance to the bag and closed her eyes tight. It was still there when she opened them again and she sighed heavily.

She disappeared in a purple cloud from her foyer and when it dissipated, she was in the diner. Leroy was surprisingly the first to react to her abrupt appearance, falling out of his chair in shock due to his buzzed state.

Ruby was about to roll her eyes at him but when she turned around, she nearly dropped a glass pitcher. "Regina." She hissed, slamming down the pitcher and the towel onto the counter. "Don't do that. You're going to give someone a heart attack."

Regina turned to the counter, completely ignoring everything she said and took a seat on the stool in front of her. The wolf noticed her eyes were a bit glossy and red.

"I know I ask all the time but…are you okay?" Ruby asked.

"I need…I…" Regina sighed to herself. "Jack Daniels."

"Alcohol?" She questioned with an eyebrow raised in skepticism. "Regina, it's two in the afternoon. I already have to deal with Leroy from opening to like five…and that's only if I don't have to call the sheriff's station for disorderly conduct."

"There's nothing disruptive to report, sister." Leroy grumbled, getting back into his seat. He tossed a glare at Regina but turned back to his drink.

"Shut up, Leroy." Ruby rolled her eyes and then looked back to Regina. "How about some coffee? Tea?"

"My nerves are shot." Regina explained quietly. She cut her eyes to Leroy who likely wouldn't hear anything. "I saw Henry's backpack in the foyer and the house smells like Emma. I don't know what's happening…"

"Maybe you need some sleep." Ruby frowned. "Look I got Kava tea or Valerian Root Tea. It doesn't smell that great but it works. Try it?"

Regina rested her head in her hand with another tired sigh. The entire town already thought she was suffering without Henry and Emma, so she didn't much care if she looked to be losing her mind now.

Getting over them was harder than she had anticipated but before she cast the curse, she never expected to love any two people as much as she loved Henry and Emma. Time was supposed to help but every day was a struggle to not see them anywhere. Henry's smiling face was in picture frames around the house.

And unfortunately, in all the time they spent together, she hadn't had a single picture of Emma anywhere. Just her clothes. Her shoes. Her…jackets. That terrible, beautiful red jacket was still laying on the chair at her vanity. The day she had to let them go, Emma was off duty. Her badge was still on the bathroom counter. They weren't married but if anyone else who didn't know them walked around that house, they wouldn't be able to tell they were only dating.

But Regina looked around her home every day and found a life she hadn't even gotten settled into. A life with a woman she had been already sure she wanted to spend the rest of her life with it. And they hadn't been married. Every day felt like there was a whole life just gone.

"Here you go." Ruby sat the cup of tea down in front of her as Regina pulled off her blazer. The former queen accepted the drink, planning to sit in her usual booth, leaving Ruby to watch her worriedly. There wasn't much she could do to help the woman. If Tinkerbell and the Charmings couldn't help, she couldn't do any better.

The bell over the door jiggled signaling more customers. Ruby looked up expecting maybe some more dwarves considering it was about that time of day, so she was ready to sigh and roll her eyes at them. They were really needy sometimes. Instead, her jaw dropped unexpectedly. "Holy shit…" She muttered.

Regina tilted her head in confusion and turned around to see what had forced the expression out of Ruby.

The moment she turned around the tea slipped from her hand and crashed onto the floor. Everyone in the diner stopped their conversations and interrupted their own meals to look at the mayor. Though, their eyes could only linger on her for so long before they turned to the door.

"You see them, too?" Regina asked Ruby quietly. She looked to the wolf with an expression that made Ruby give her a small smile and nodded.

She turned her eyes back to the boy who looked identical to her son. And the woman. Blonde hair and brilliant green eyes. Her heart seized in her chest at the sight of them. The backpack was very real. It belonged to her son.

"Mom!" He exclaimed rushing her into a hug. She hesitated to respond to his embrace for a moment, looking up to Emma and Killian who seemed to be giving her wary expressions. Henry glanced up at her with a slight crease in his brow. "You remember me, right? Mom?"

"Of course, I do, Henry." She said, finally wrapping her arms around him. "My little prince…I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too." He smiled and then pulled away. "Even though I missed you the most, I still think someone else still missed you a little more."

He stepped over the ruined tea and grinned at his other mother. Killian squeezed her shoulder and gave her a nudge forward.

"Emma." Regina breathed out hoarsely. "You're here."

"I guess there's no use in asking if you remember me." Emma chuckled, nearly teary eyed. Ruby gave an amused smile, watching them walk towards each other, meeting in the middle.

Regina's hands cupped the sides of her face and Emma leaned into her right palm. She savored that touch with her eyes closed for a moment. Something warm and comforting erupted in her chest at the feeling of Regina's lips against her forehead and then her cheek. Emma opened her eyes to her lover and captured her lips. Her arms wrapped around Regina's waist.

And, yes, she did pick her up at least a foot off the ground.

The patrons of the diner were all smiles. A few them, Ruby included, wiped away any trace of stray tears, although the wolf couldn't stop herself from giving an 'aw' at the display. And it came as no surprise to most of them that a buzzed Leroy was the one to start the round of claps. He was frowning as he did but no one paid him any mind.

Emma lowered Regina back on her feet and they both chuckled at the fact. Tears were running down their cheeks. Red eyes and soft smiles. Regina pulled her into another hug that the blonde accepted without pause.

"I missed you so much." Emma whispered.

"I couldn't take another day knowing I couldn't have you. You're not allowed to leave again. Ever."

"You're not allowed to send me away again." She countered, seriously.

Emma knew this was it. That was the feeling that her fake memories could not replace. Love was a void in her life if it wasn't Henry. No one ever satisfied. No one was ever enough. In that year, she hadn't so much as looked at anyone else. Now with her memories back and her one true love holding her and she was holding her back, it seemed that her soul could never forget.


	4. Chapter 4

Only Storybrooke's power couple could tug on one's heartstrings with a beautiful reunion. They also could consider themselves the only ones to end up in the back of Granny's caught up in an intense lip lock twenty minutes later.

Regina asked to talk to Emma in private. And the moment they faced each other, the look in Regina's eyes resulted in Emma taking one step, then two steps until she was against the wall. The brunette had looked her over, wondering about the change in her lover's fashion choices since the last time they saw each other. And then Regina blanked on what she had brought her back there for and kissed her until the blonde's lips were bruised.

Half an hour after their reuniting, Emma had her hands on the sides of Regina's face and the other woman's hands had disappeared under her jacket and then under her top long ago. Without missing a beat, they exchanged several pecks that turned to long, drawn out kisses as if no time had passed since their last time together.

Emma was the first to pull away causing Regina frown in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Emma said, shaking her head. She dropped her hands to Regina's waist and pulled her closer, "Everything is perfect now."

"Well, then why did you stop?"

"Because we're in the back of Granny's seconds away from ripping each other's clothes off," Emma said before laughing as Regina rolled her eyes, "Sex is on my mind, yes, but we can't forget why Killian even figured out you guys were here. He wanted to get us back together but he also knew there was another curse I needed to break."

"I do need to thank him for bringing you and Henry back," Regina said with a sigh.

"And I do need to go see my parents."

"Right…" Regina murmured, turning her eyes away.

She wasn't sure what Emma's reaction was going to be about the new edition to the Charming clan. They'd been worrying about it since they got back. Even she wasn't sure how Emma would react to the news.

"Hey," Emma whispered, ducking her head to catch her eyes. Regina looked up at her, forgetting what she was worried about instantly. "I missed you."

"I win this round, Emma Swan," Regina said with a sad smile.

She smoothed her hands over the lapels of Emma's jacket. It was a black leather jacket. It was new. She liked the way it looked on Emma but it wasn't that stupid red jacket that had been haunting her since she'd been returned to her empty home. What would make her feel much better would be to make sure Emma was wearing it the moment there as an opportunity. She loathed the garment but she loved it, too.

"You could never miss me more than I missed you," she finished.

Emma returned the sad smile, understanding what she meant. Regina had remembered her all this time while she had only experienced strong, residual feelings of longing only after her memories had been restored.

"I'm not going anywhere this time," Emma said, leaning forward and kissing her forehead, "I promise."

* * *

Regina looked back the at the three people standing behind her.

She flexed her fingers, focusing on the way Emma's eyes lit up even when she was only lightly grinning at her. Then looked to their son and Henry smiled at her despite the way he was impatiently rocking on the balls of his feet.

Her eyes roamed up to the pirate standing behind his and she received an unbelievably, warm smile from him before he nodded for her to knock on the door finally.

With a long exhale, Regina connected her fist with the door of the Charmings' apartment. Less than a second after, the door opened revealing David behind it. He looked a bit confused to see her there but then grinned, ready to let her in – and apparently completely missing the surprise she had standing behind her.

"I have something for you and Snow," Regina said, stepping aside as she saw Snow from the kitchen look curiously in her direction.

David's expression was priceless but for once it wasn't a look that Regina wished to laugh at. She smiled softly as he reached out and grabbed Emma into a big hug.

"You're here?" David questioned with an almost disbelieving grin as his eyes looked between Regina and Killian. He pulled away but held onto her arms as if he wasn't sure she was actually there. "You remember us?"

"Yeah," Emma chuckled, "How could I forget…especially when you're both like a year or two older than me."

He smiled, still in surprise, and looked to Henry. The teen walked over and accepted the hug given to him. "Wow, taller already, Henry," David laughed. They pulled away from each other and he immediately invited everyone in.

"What are you two doing here? How?" He asked.

Regina glanced around cautiously as she closed the door behind them. Killian noticed the look on her face and raised a questioning eyebrow at her. All she offered in return was a tight smile. They'd all figure out soon enough.

"The pirate," Emma smirked, looking over her father's shoulder to the man who probably looked unrecognizable to him. David turned to him and tilted his head before looking back to Emma. "He owed Regina and made it his mission to bring me and Henry back to her. Which I'm grateful for."

"Is that so?" David asked Hook.

"Aye," Killian nodded. Regina looked at him with appreciation shining in her eyes, "Regina called it a path to redemption. I was just doing a friend a favor. But then I heard of the curse during my travels and it seemed necessary to bring Emma back more than anything."

"I don't think I could thank you enough," he said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No need, mate."

"So, you guys…" Emma started, "You're cursed…again?"

"And we're back or we never left…Or well we don't know," Regina sighed.

"But you guys know who you are. You know me," Emma said.

"And then that's where it stops. We don't know who did it or why."

"Our last year has been wiped away," David stated with a slight grimace.

"The whole year?" Emma frowned, "Gone…"

"The last thing any of us remember is saying goodbye to you. We've been here for a while but the moment we all woke up here it was like we'd just seen you leave yesterday."

Emma took Regina's hand and squeezed in assurance. From what little Killian was willing to share about the first moments in the Enchanted Forest, Regina hadn't taken the separation very well. She hated to think the woman she loved had been suffering.

"I'm fine," Regina whispered to her but appreciating the touch.

"But if you guys can't remember then how do you know it's been a-"

"Emma…Henry!" Snow rushed down the stairs and Regina and Killian parted so she could get through. She turned to Emma, embracing her in a big hug and pulled Henry in as well.

Emma, Henry, and Killian looked at her wide-eyed and surprised at the obviousness that there would be a new Charming soon. Emma was the first attempt to say something but both her parents sensed that there was discomfort created from the protruding belly Snow was now sporting. David put his arm around Snow and glanced over at Regina who was watching for Emma's reaction.

"Well, as you can see…" David said, looking at Emma intensely. He was determined to be a good father to their new edition but he also didn't want Emma to think she was being replaced. "…A lot has happened."

"We just don't know what. The whole year is gone."

"Wow."

"I'm going to have an uncle…or an aunt?" Henry asked with a raised eyebrow, "And I'm going to be older than them? That's weird."

"I'm sure that's not the weirdest thing you've heard, Henry," Regina said, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"My great-grandfather was Peter Pan, so you could be right."

"Uh, that's great. Congratulations," Emma said.

Emma smiled but it didn't reach her eyes and that was something the Charmings, even with how hard they try to be good parents, didn't see. Regina was the only one to see and she was already formulating what to say to her once they had some time alone to talk about it.

Although, it seemed they knew it would be hard for Emma to hear. David cleared his throat and turned to the trio behind them, "Could you give us a moment with Emma?"

"Anything you have to say…" Emma paused, eyes searching for Regina's, "You can say in front of them. It's okay."

Snow and David silently agreed and Snow took Emma's hands in her own, "Emma, we just want you to know that this doesn't change us. You're still our daughter and having another baby will never change that. You're not replaceable and we wouldn't dare try."

"There will never be another Emma Swan. Everyone knows that," David said with a small smile.

The slight tension faded a little when Emma's smile turned a little more genuine. She was happy for them but having a family was still new. It would take some time to work out her feelings after the less than stellar childhood she'd lived.

"I'm really happy for you guys. I promise." Emma squeezed Snow's hands. "But before the whole baby shower thing we might want to figure out who curse you guys first."

"Right," Snow agreed.

"Do we have to do that today?" Henry asked, "Everyone seems fine right now. We just got back."

"He's right. You and Henry need to get settled in at home. We can start first thing in the morning. It wouldn't hurt. We've been doing fine before you got here. What's a few hours?"

* * *

Emma tossed her keys into the tray by the coat rack. She leaned against the door with a tired sigh but smiled, watching Regina take off her coat. She missed seeing that. She missed the way they were so domestic. Just how comfortable they were in their relationship. It was so easy to be together.

Regina sensed eyes on her and looked over to the blonde once her coat was on the hook. She smiled softly and walked over to her. Immediately they had arms around each other, sharing a kiss Emma had been craving through the entire dinner they'd had with her parents.

Killian had gone off in search of Neal, who no one had seen since their arrival. But honestly, the Charmings hadn't gotten out much considering how many unfinished baby items laid around the living room.

"Well, one thing I didn't miss was constantly having to remind you that your leather jackets won't hold up against the cold. It's New England."

"You'll definitely be happy to know I didn't pack a single coat in my suitcase," Emma said with a smirk. Regina rolled her eyes. "But lucky for me there's a Queen always around to keep me warm."

"Is that so?" Regina smirked, leaning forward to kiss her lips.

"If I'm still allowed in the bedroom," Emma said, suggestively wiggling her eyebrows.

"Why wouldn't you be?" Regina frowned and narrowed her eyes, "What did you do?"

"We'll see how much trouble I'm in after you see my surprise." A suspicious and slightly worried look came over Regina's face. Emma wondered if she'd be relieved or have a heart attack once she figured out what it was.

"Hey, Henry, you can come down now," Emma called.

"Did you talk to her first?" Henry asked leaning over the railing. He met eyes with his brunette mother, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

Regina turned to Emma and asked in a skeptical voice, "What's going on?"

"Just come down, Henry."

The teen was reluctant but slowly came down the stairs. It took Regina a moment to realize what they were deeming as a surprise. In Henry's arms was a puppy. 

Her eyes shifted between Emma and Henry quickly just before he got to the last step. Regina opened her mouth to say something. Although nothing came out, so she pressed her lips together, staring at the dog happily beating its tail against Henry's side at the sight of Emma.

Emma noticed the lack of response and took Duchess from Henry. She gave an uneasy smile to Regina and said, "Um, this is Duchess."

Regina looked up to her and then slowly acknowledge the dog with an unreadable expression, "I see…"

Henry and Emma shared a concerned look.

"She's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. 11 weeks old…" Emma paused and grimaced, "Not exactly potty trained yet but it'll be easier because there's a big backyard. Otherwise she's really well-behaved. Maybe a bit of a spoiled diva but that's my fault…everything should be fine, right? Unless...Are you allergic to…dogs…or…?"

"She's not allergic," Henry inserted.

Emma swallowed nervously, "Please say something."

"Okay."

"Okay?" Emma questioned, and Regina nodded even though her face still remained unreadable.

"We can keep her?" Henry asked.

"It would be unfair to not accommodate and adjust. You had a life before you came back," Regina reasoned, and she finally smiled at Henry, "Of course we'll keep her."

"Awesome," Henry exclaimed. He hugged her tight, not giving her the chance to hug back before he was taking the puppy from Emma's arm and hurrying up the stairs, "Thanks, mom!"

Emma and Regina watched his shadow disappeared. Emma turned back to Regina with an uncertain smile. She pushed her hands into her pockets – a nervous habit Regina missed – unsure what came next. 

Honestly, the fire from their heated make-out session back at Granny's hadn't really died out. She was hoping they could rekindle the love life that had been ruined by their separation.

"So…" Emma started, "D-do you want to talk about it…or…?"

"Talk about what, dear?" Regina asked, directing her attention back to the blonde.

"The dog."

"We talk about it already. We're keeping the dog."

"But you're not happy-"

"Happy?" Regina scoffed, "Darling, I am  _overjoyed_  just to have you both home."

"Are you sure?" Emma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Absolutely."

Emma chewed her bottom lip, taking a slow step forward, "That's good to know…"

"Is it?"

"Yeah, because I was hoping we could finish what  _you_  started earlier. Back at the diner."

Regina closed the small distance between them and brushed her lips against Emma's. The blonde was less than a second away from kissing her back until Regina moved away, instead opting for whispering in her ear, "That can be arranged, my dear," and Emma shivered.

* * *

_Regina had long disappeared from their group and after hearing Grumpy mentioned something about her not being there, Killian had gone off to find her. Snow was about ready to go after her, but he figured he still had a better standing with the woman than Snow did._

_They were once villains and a few times they had reluctantly aligned for a common goal._

_When he found her she beating the dirt with a stick, tucking something away._

_"I thought we agreed on not being the bad guys anymore, love," Killian said. He tightened his jaw and frowned, "What are you doing, Regina?"_

_Regina let out a tired and annoyed sigh, "You're following me now, pirate?"_

_"I thought we were friends. Seemed like the right thing to do." Regina scoffed. "Everyone is worried. For divided reasons, of course. The Charmings are worried about you. Everyone else is a little worried about what you're off doing."_

_"And what's that got to do with you?"_

_"I volunteered. Was I wrong in assuming that you'd rather talk to me than Snow?" Killian questioned, watching her hands move._

_"I'm not sure which is worse. It's nothing that concerns any of you."_

_"Seems doubtful, love," he sighed. Regina shifted her weight and he caught sight of something red in the small hole she was digging. Feeling even more concerned than he already had, Killian stepped forward, "Is that…a heart?"_

_He sensed her seething but didn't back down from his curiosity. She pushed some dirt into the hole, "Go away!" Regina said angrily._

_"Your heart, eh? Why?" Killian asked gently._

_"I'm not having this conversation with you," Regina firmly stated, attempting to ignore his presence._

_"It's me or Snow, love." Regina stood up from her position kneeling over her now partially buried heart. "You miss them."_

_"Not as much as I did when that was still beating in my chest."_

_"I know nothing of healthy coping, but it isn't right to do this. You can't just bury it here in the woods."_

_"Watch me."_

_"You won't feel anything."_

_"That's the point, Killian. I can't keep walking around knowing that I'll never see them again. Emma and Henry don't even know who I am."_

_"Killian," Snow called from behind him. He turned to her in confusion. "I can handle it."_

_Killian bowed his head, "As you wish."_

_The whole situation bothered him. He walked with an idea brewing in his head._

_"You're burying your heart," Snow sighed, "I know exactly how you're feeling. I just said goodbye to them too. My daughter…for the second time. But I promise you it will get better."_

_Regina scoffed under her breath and rolled her eyes. Snow pointed to her heart._

_"With that. It may be causing you pain, but I promise you, it will let you feel something else soon enough."_

_"What exactly do you think that is?" Regina questioned skeptically._

_"Something I know Emma and Henry would want you to find. Happiness."_

_"I can't be happy, in any form, without them."_

_"Find a way," Snow said, "We all have to."_

_Triumphantly, Snow watched Regina retrieve her heart and brush it off. She looked to Snow who nodded in encouragement and sighed before pushing the organ back into her chest. A flood of sorrow rushed back into her body and the urge to cry almost overtook her. But she refused to shed any tears._

_"Let's go," she sighed, starting to walk back to where they'd left their group._

_Snow followed behind her hoping that her advice was actually going to help. She would admit she didn't know the magnitude of Regina's pain. She lost her daughter and her grandson. Regina lost her son and her True Love. At least Snow still had Charming to help her through the loss._

_Her thoughts were interrupted by rustling in the bushes. She stopped cautiously, "Did you hear that? There was something there…in this bush."_

_Regina pursed her lips and examined the undergrowth with a raised eyebrow. She glanced at Snow and the woman silently emphasized that she really did hear something with widened eyes and a shoulder shrug._

_"There's nothing here unless it flew away," Regina said._

_A shadow from above ghosted over Snow and she looked up, "It did." Regina frowned and looked up as well, quickly finding a flying monkey was diving towards them. "We need to find cover!"_

_The Queen had almost been convinced to run away from it but then she remember she was the Evil Queen not too long ago. She was surely dressed like the Evil Queen as well. So, instead of letting Snow pull her away, she stopped and formed a fireball._

_The monkey dodged the fireball and banked back around. It swooped down close, knocking them back into the dirt. Without pause, it grabbed Regina by the arm with tight claws digging into her flesh._

_"Regina! Regina!" Snow yelled and forcefully grabbed onto Regina's waist, pulling her from the flying monkey. She cringed at the ripping that sounded once Regina was free and they fell to the ground. The older woman was slow to get up, holding her arm to her waist as the monkey flew away, preparing to attack again._

_"It's too fast," Snow said._

_"I'm open to suggestions," Regina said in return, taking a glance down at her arm. Snow noticed the injury._

_"You're bleeding…"_

_"Get down!"_

_They both ducked despite the fact that neither of them gave the warning. The flying monkey coming at them is struck by an arrow. It shrieked in pain and turned around to fly away. They watched it fly away with confused frowns._

_"Made it just in time," Neal said, catching their attention. He offered his hand to Snow and helped her up. Ruby was right beside him and offered Regina a hand. The woman was hesitant to accept it but relented anyway._

_"And I'm grateful for the assistance," Snow sighed, "What was that?"_

_"I don't know but we should probably leave before it comes back." Neal looked to Regina, seeing her wounded arm and then back to Snow. "You two okay?"_

_"I think we're okay."_

_"You're bleeding," Ruby said, looking at Regina's arm._

_"I'll be fine." Regina deflected, "We should get back to the others. Warn them about this creature."_

_Everyone seemed to agree with her and started walking back to the trail their group had been following to the castle. Neal and Snow walked ahead, conversing about the attack. Ruby was behind them and Regina took up the back._

_The wolf glanced over her shoulder and sighed to herself. She paused her movements and turned to Regina, "It's really bothering me…"_

_"Pardon?" Regina asked with a raised eyebrow._

_"I know you don't want anyone's help but I'm not really asking, Your Majesty," Ruby said, folding her arms over her chest, "You should have that bandaged."_

_At first Regina didn't say anything but then after a long moment of quiet with Snow and Neal unaware of their stop, Regina slowly held out her arm. Ruby made quick work of the wound without a word to which Regina was grateful._

* * *

Regina tightened her arms around Emma's glistening form in front of her. She was still breathing heavily, chest rising and falling rapidly and taking longer than expected to slow down. Emma was quiet and contented in her arms.

"Are you all right?" Regina whispered against her hair.

"I'm great," Emma mumbled. The brunette's brow furrowed and she leaned over a little to look at Emma's face. Her eyes were closed and her cheeks were red.

"It's been five minutes since we finished. Your lungs still sound taxed."

Emma frowned, hearing the smugness in Regina's voice. She wouldn't ignore the fact that had come to her after her second climax.

"Apparently, you've worn me out," Emma quietly said. However, it wasn't low enough to miss Regina's ears.

"Worn you out? Emma Swan admitting fatigue?" Regina questioned in mock surprise. Emma grumbled something, and the woman decidedly wasn't going to tease her too much about it.

"Look I'm only saying that because it's…" She sighed and turned her head, "It's really been a year since I've been with you, Regina. I underestimated your stamina."

"Why on earth would you do that?" Regina smirked.

"Because it's been a year. I missed you. I needed to be reminded of what I had been missing."

"Are you satisfied with your reminder?" Regina stroked her hand over Emma's taut stomach, beginning to like the idea of being the big spoon the longer they laid there.

"I am," Emma grinned, "You?"

"I most certainly enjoyed it but I can assure you, I had not forgotten your skill."

"That's good," Emma said in the middle of a small yawn, "…Really good…"

"Sleep already?" Regina quietly asked, feeling the blonde's breathing begin to even out. Emma hummed her agreement and turned over to press their lips together in a short peck. Regina kissed the side of her face and then rested her head on her pillow and close to Emma's neck. "Goodnight, my love."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. Inspiration to even write my own name has been hard to come by lately.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

Her eyes fluttered open, squinting against the harsh glow of the morning sun. She was laying on her back and then turned to her nightstand. There was a framed photo of Henry and Emma there, hidden by a bright glare. It reminded her of the long day she'd had, but it was a good one. Her family was home again.

At least she was under the impression that Henry and Emma…and even Hook had returned. All through the night, Emma was close by with Regina's hand touching her for constant reassurance.

Regina reached out to the left side of the bed only to feel the spot empty. Unshakeable panic fell heavy on her. She sat up in bed and looked at the empty spot next to her. It looked untouched and her heart wasn't ready to be shattered once more by a vivid dream.

She almost felt sick to her stomach at the thought of it all being just a dream, but the feeling had no time to settle.

There was barking from outside the door and she quickly got out of bed and briskly put on her robe on her way out of the bedroom. The barking had come from downstairs and it was soon followed by laughter and the smell of bacon.

With hurried steps, Regina cleared the stairs and stopped at the doorway of the kitchen. Her eyes fell on Henry at the island with a pouting puppy at his feet. Relief spread through her like ice water and she silently moved into the kitchen, placing a kiss on Henry's hair.

He smiled up at her, obviously not drawing attention to the uncertainty still lingering in her eyes. Regina brushed her fingers through his hair before walking towards Emma at the stove. She reached out for her shoulder and her hand connected with soft, warm skin.

Emma turned to her with a wide smile with a spatula in one hand.

"Good morning, beautiful," she said, wrapping her free arm around Regina's waist and pulling her in for a kiss. Regina kissed her back but pulled away for a moment to search her face. Emma smiled in amusement for only a second and then concern painted her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Regina touched her cheek gently and said, "Tell me you're real."

"Regina…" Emma sat down the spatula and fully turned to her. She leaned forward and kissed her, hands grasping her forearms tightly. Regina was out of breath when the pulled away a moment later. "I'm here. Henry is here. And we are both real. I promise you, you never have to worry about that again."

"Good." Regina nodded. "So, that means the dog is real, as well?"

"Yes, Duchess is very real," Emma chuckled, "You two will get along just fine. Very high maintenance."

Regina raised an eyebrow at her.

"In all the best ways, of course."

"That's an acceptable answer, I suppose," Regina said, and then captured her lips once more as a proper good morning.

Just then, Duchess howled miserably, causing Regina to cringe. Emma looked around Regina and over to Henry who had been grinning at them since they'd started talking.

"What are you doing to her?" Emma asked.

"Nothing. Maybe she's hungry."

"This one time," Emma mumbled, taking a piece of bacon from a plate. She handed Regina the spatula and walked over to the island next to Henry.

"What on earth are you doing?" Regina asked with a frown.

"Well, when we left there wasn't much puppy food, so I just bought that. Now there's nothing else for her to eat." Emma shrugged and then disappeared under the counter for a moment and coming up with Duchess on her arm. The puppy immediately stopped whining at the sight of the bacon and nipped at the small pieces Emma fed her.

"Shouldn't you go to the store and get some?" Regina questioned, trying to resist thinking about how cute the dog actually was. She wasn't expecting to give in so easily.

"We're probably going to go through at least $200 worth of food before we find one she likes."

"Excuse me?"

"She wasn't kidding about the high maintenance thing," Henry inserted, "She doesn't like to walk. Well, she actually doesn't really even like being on the floor."

"Henry, if you don't want her to change her mind, I would stop talking about all the not good stuff," Emma whispered.

"I'm not going to change my mind," Regina grumbled, removing the last bacon strips from the pan and turned off the eye. That was when she finally noticed the rest of the food on the counter.

Emma had made breakfast...and the kitchen wasn't burnt down.

"I guess I'll run to the store and pick up a few brands for her to test out," Emma said sitting Duchess back on the floor – she didn't look too happy about it.

"What if she doesn't like any of them?" Henry asked.

"Uh…" Emma paused for a moment and looked at Regina, "There's pasta and quinoa somewhere, right? Rice?"

"Sure," Regina answered.

"That'll be a good substitute until we find one."

Despite being in pajamas Emma looked to be heading out the door. Regina made Henry his plate and tentatively gave a small piece of bacon to Duchess who looked up at her with big, happy eyes. It took Regina a lot to resist the grateful look as the puppy reminded her of the natural likeableness Henry and Emma shared.

When she finally made into the foyer, Emma was pulling on her jacket when she approached.

"You know how to cook," Regina stated.

"A gift from you." Emma grinned. "Now I'll have no excuse for not making dinner for our anniversary...or your birthday."

"I actually like the sound of that," Regina said.

"I probably should've have mentioned that." Emma chuckled at the raised eyebrow that only signaled Regina had ideas brewing. "Anyway, I'll be right back. Go have breakfast with your son."

"Thank you," Regina murmured, just as Emma leaned in for a quick kiss.

* * *

Emma and Regina walked into the station with Henry behind them holding Duchess. The Charmings were happy to see them and they were joined by another set of faces. Ruby and Tinkerbell were present as well. That was normal but there were plenty of people missing. No dwarves and no Hook…or Neal.

"Barely got a chance to say hi," Ruby chuckled, coming up to Emma. She pulled her into a hug.

"Regina mentioned that you helped her out," Emma said once they pulled back, "Thank you for that. Really."

"Of course."

"Where is everyone else?" Regina questioned, looking around the practically empty room.

"Yeah, where's Hook?" Henry asked, plopping down in David's chair. His grandfather ruffled his hair and then leaned down to make faces at the puppy.

"Another good question," Emma mumbled with a sigh as everyone settled down. She was about to start off this meeting until Regina touched her shoulder.

"Emma, a word?" She asked, tugging on her arm to pull her aside.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just…" Regina reached into her pocket and held out something to her. It flashed in the light and Emma immediately recognized it as her Sheriff's badge. "I thought you'd want this back…Sheriff Swan."

Their fingers brushed as she took it from her hand with a soft smile. "You sure you want to give this back? The election was a sham, remember?"

"I'll make an exception this once. Besides…everyone would just vote for you anyway."

"Would you?" Emma asked. Regina rolled her eyes, watching Emma clip the badge to her belt.

"Only because I like you," Regina said.

"You more than like me," Emma said back with a smile. She leaned forward and pecked Regina on the lips just before they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. They both turned to everyone and David was giving them the dad look.

"Right. Okay." Emma rubbed her hands together. "So, what the hell happened…besides the obvious?"

She gestured to her parents as she sat down on the edge of one of the desks. Snow averted her eyes, blushing.

"We don't know. No one knows," Ruby said, "Saying goodbye to you and then nothing except waking up here."

"It was just like any other day in Storybrooke," David said.

"Clearly not…" Snow murmured.

"So, we don't even know where to start."

"Well, you're cursed with your memories wiped. That's a start," Henry chimed in.

"Got another start for you," Leroy said barging into the room with Happy frowning at his phone behind him. "We lost another one. We're down to five now."

"Four actually, Bashful isn't answering," Happy said.

The frown on Emma's face only deepened the more words they spoke. She raised her hand to stop Leroy from saying anything else before she turned back to the room of people who had yet to mention whatever was going on with the dwarves.

"Wait…wait…what the hell is going on?"

"Thank god you're back, sister," Leroy said.

"We didn't want to tell you the moment you got back," Snow said, "Nothing had happened in days and everything was sudden and overwhelming enough for all of us."

"We were going to bring it up today…during this meeting," David added.

"You knew about this?" Emma asked looking up to Regina standing off to the side.

"Very vaguely. I haven't been in the right frame of mind lately. My apologies."

"It's fine…I think." She looked at Regina a little longer before gesturing for her mother to continue.

"It's not just our memories that are missing. People have gone missing. It started a month ago."

"Whoever cursed us is picking us off one by one," Leroy said.

"Who's missing?" Emma asked. Everyone seemed to fall silent. She and Henry looked at each other before Emma looked to Ruby. "Who's missing? Guys, who is missing?"

"Besides the dwarves we're not exactly sure," she answered.

"Well, then what are your guesses?"

"Gold," Snow said.

"But who knows what he's actually up to. Could be anything…" Regina said.

"She's right. There's been confusion everywhere. It's been hard to keep track of everyone. We tried to take a census, but it just boiled into chaos."

The room was silent for a moment as Emma stared straight ahead. She reached into her pocket and held out a few dollars to Henry. "I need chocolate. Go get me some?" Emma asked. Most of them knew Henry was aware that there was something he wasn't supposed to hear. He didn't complain though.

"Okay," he agreed, taking the money from her hand. "Apollo bar?"

"You know me too well kid." She smiled.

He headed for the door and stopped by Regina who smiled at him, declining the offer of a candy bar. The moment he was out of earshot, Regina cloaked the room. Emma nodded her thanks and looked to her parents.

"Neal?" She questioned, "Is he here?"

"Well, we haven't found him yet."

"So, he's more than likely been taken."

"My money is on yes," Leroy muttered, earning a glare from David, Tinkerbell, and Regina.

"If he's been taken…" Regina sighed. "I imagine whoever is behind this must have also gotten to Killian as well."

"Dammit." Emma raked her hand through her hair.

"Well, look we have some leads…possibly. Some people have started to set up camp at the edge of town Neal might be there," David assured, "And Hook as well."

"Or he may not have gotten swept up in the curse at all," Snow stated.

"Not sure what's worse," Emma said with a sigh. Regina cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention. The purple glow in her hand signaled the disappearance of the sound barrier just as Henry walked in. He handed Emma the Apollo bar and sat back down in his seat. "The only way to figure this out is to get your memories back and the only way to do that is finding out who did it…which is the problem."

"I have an idea," Henry said.

"Oh yeah?" Emma looked over at him with Duchess hiding behind his legs for a nap. "What do you got, kid?"

"It's a good plan," Henry insisted. He turned his eyes to his brunette mothers, "But you're not gonna like it, Mom."

Regina frowned, something nervous creeping up her spine. Henry looked at her with hopeful eyes but an apologetic smile. She glanced around the room to the other optimistic looks being giving. Emma mouthed out a 'please' in hopes that she would cooperate,  _if_  it was a good plan. She wanted her memories back as much as everyone else, so she didn't really have a choice.

* * *

_"No," Neal said sharply, tearing his wrist away from Killian's hand, "Why? It's a stupid plan."_

_"It's the only plan we've got," Killian argued, "I'm aware that it's a long shot but it's not as if it can make it any worse. I have to at least try."_

_"You-"_

_"I owe it to her."_

_"So, she gave you your hand back…"_

_"The least I can do is to get her son back. Your son, Neal." Neal's jaw tightened, and Killian stepped closer to him with a determined gaze. He placed his hand on his shoulder, ignoring the other man's attempt to brush him off. "You want your son back."_

_"Of course, I do," Neal stated, "But if nothing else, Regina and I agree on one thing. And it's that Henry and Emma are better off living normal lives. It doesn't matter that she's the savior. It doesn't matter that Henry is the truest believer. It matters that they're safe."_

_"Even with all Regina's magic and the Charmings' hope, it'll never be enough to promise that nothing bad will ever happen to them out there. At least with us…there is us_. _Wherever they are now, we can't be there for them."_

_"I've lost Emma and my son. If something happens to you…"_

_"The worst that can happen to me is that I run out of rum. If not that, I'll get lost and I never get lost." He smirked proudly. Neal shook his head unsuccessfully refusing to at least grin. Killian took a chain from around his neck and forced open Neal's hand. A ring hung from it and was warm in his palm. "It's a trophy of sorts. Very important to me. Of course, a pirate never honorably acquires anything…but…"_

_He was cut off as Neal grabbed his upper arm and pressed his lips against his. The action caught Killian off guard, but it wasn't an unwelcome surprise. He savored the short-lived moment as almost right after the kiss was initiated, they were interrupted. From the corner of Neal's eye, he could see_ _Grumpy rushing up to them, unaware and uncaring of the moment he'd disrupted. He stopped just beside them and took a moment to catch his breath._

_"Regina…" He huffed out, "She's gone."_

_"Gone where?" Neal asked._

_"We were coming up with a plan and she just left."_

_"That's not what happened," Tinkerbell said as she walked up to themm "They were talking about the Wicked Witch and her monkeys. There was a plan to get into the castle and Regina, stubborn as always, wanted to go alone."_

_"Let me guess…the Charmings disagreed and she still went alone anyway?" Killian questioned._

_"Most likely scenario. Unless she was taking by a monkey."_

_He looked over at Neal and sighed. "Seems I won't be leaving so soon."_

_"Why's that?"_

_"Regina, however smart she is, is incredibly stupid when left on her own." Killian casually took Neal's bow from him and traded it with his cutlass. "I'll be back with the Queen in tow, unscathed."_

_He gave a short salute before heading off._ _Tinkerbell watched him leave and soon Grumpy walked away as well. And then she was left alone with Neal._

_"Did we interrupt something?" she asked with a smug grin._

_"No. Not really." Neal sighed watching Killian disappear into the forest._

* * *

Emma cautiously looked on either side of the hallway before stepping out. Regina exited behind her, fixing her hair. She closed the door behind them just as Regina reached out to wipe something from her cheek. Lipstick.

"You think anyone saw us?" Emma questioned.

"No. The hallway was empty."

"I still feel like this should've waited until we got home," she said, smoothing down the small wrinkles in her jacket.

"Well, it's too late for that now, Sheriff," Regina said with a smirk. She slipped her fingers under the lapels of Emma's jacket. Her eyes shifted down to the younger woman's clothes before meeting her eyes again. "I quite like this new wardrobe of yours."

"So, you've said…a lot." Emma chuckled, giving another look around them before her arms came up against Regina's back. "I figured you would. You gave me my memories."

"I didn't change your fashion sense. If I did there wouldn't be a single leather jacket in the house."

"You love the jackets. You have plenty of your own leather jackets."

"Expensive…Prada."

"…Dolce and Gabbana. Yes, yes I know."

"But nevermind that. I just want you to be here. I missed you and your stupid clothes."

Emma laughed quietly at that and leaned in to capture her lips. When she pulled away, she whispered, "And I love you, too."

"Right," Regina sighed, moving her arms down to Emma's waist. They shared one more kiss. "That's the last one I'll be getting from you for a while."

"If you teach me to poof, I'll come kiss you whenever you want."

"You're a terrible student. I just want to get this over with."

"We'll get your memories back as soon as possible. And if Leroy sells it well enough, people will think we broke True Love." Emma chuckled at that and Regina shook her head.

Regina pushed her away gently and said, "Go do your job, Sheriff Swan."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Emma said, with a small bow. "Don't forget to make an interesting exit."

* * *

As planned the room was filled with conversation. Enough of it was about the 'fight' Belle supposedly saw and another that Leroy stumbled upon at the station between Emma and Regina.  _So far, so good_ , Emma thought. She stood at the front of the room, catching pieces of the arguments going on. It was an outrageous plan that had a better chance at failing than at succeeding considering the very obvious relationship that she had with Regina. And, of course, a lot of people thought they were true loves.

"Everyone!" Emma called over the noise, "Everyone! I know that you're frightened and confused but I need you to listen."

"Is it true there's a monster keeping us from leaving town?" Archie questioned.

"Is that what happened to my brothers?" Leroy asked.

"Yes," Emma answered. Her eyes managed to find Regina silently entering the room from the back. "We believe the people are being abducted as they approach the town line."

"So, we're trapped here…again," Granny concluded.

"It's not any different than last time."

"Last time we lost our memories. This time we get dragged into the woods," Leroy inserted.

"Do you know who cursed us? Why they want us here?" Belle asked.

"I'm working on it. It's hard to figure out who cast a curse if no one remembers the last year," Emma said. She couldn't really deny the nervous feeling in her stomach. She didn't really want Regina to be target for an angry mob.

"Who cursed us…" Leroy scoffed. "I think you know exactly who cursed us. Isn't it obvious?"

"Obvious?"

"Who cast the last curse?" He stated more than asked. The room quickly filled with murmurs of agreement.

"Now wait a minute. We can't assume…"

"It was her, wasn't it?" Belle questioned. "It was Regina. I saw you arguing earlier."

"Yeah. I saw something pretty heated, too. And it wasn't no lover's quarrel either." The noise got a bit louder than as Leroy hyped up the crowd even more. "Who else knows how to use it? Who's the only one who's ever done something like this before! The Evil Queen!"

The finger jab really did it. Emma bristled a little bit when everyone stood up from their chairs to face her. It didn't help as much as she'd hoped that Regina was completely calm about this plan.

"For once I'm just as clueless as the rest of you," Regina said.

"You expect us to believe that?" Whale questioned.

"It's the truth."

"This curse has your fingerprints all over it," Granny said.

"And you did take away our memories once before," Belle added.

"Still have your big house…"

"You think that's what I care about? My house? My job? The only thing that ever mattered to me is Henry. And I woke up here, just like the rest of you, without him."

"You missed Emma and Henry...," Archie said. A subtle frown appeared on Regina's face. "We'll understand if you tell us the truth.

"Speak for yourself," Granny sneered. She turned her eyes to Regina. "You have your son back because we're cursed…"

"No. It was only by a miracle…If I had done it I wouldn't have spent the time we've been here entirely miserable." Regina turned her eyes to Emma. "Well, Sheriff…tell them."

"Tell them what, Regina?" Emma questioned.

"That I didn't do it!"

"I'm not entirely sure I believe you. Things with you just aren't adding up."

"So, now you're siding with the rabble?"

"You're lying to me, Regina. And it's not some small thing. Hundreds of people are cursed. That's not something to be taken lightly," Emma said firmly, "Even if it was because of...me and Henry."

"I thought we'd been through this. I'm innocent. I'm cursed, too. I've lost my memories."

"You'd certainly benefit from not remembering the last year," Leroy said.

The whole room seemed to move towards the woman and she raised her hands defensively. "Don't come any closer…"

"Regina," Emma warned.

"Do you remember who you're dealing with?" Regina questioned, eyes searching the room. Her eyes hardened. "If you really want there to be an Evil Queen…then fine. That's exactly what you'll get."

With the flick of her wrist, the building started to shake. As shockwave rumbled through the room and Emma flew a short distance back into the stage. Regina disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

She paced the length of her office anxiously waiting for the door to open. But it had been nearly thirty minutes since she'd left the angry mob to their witch hunt. Henry's plan was to make it appear that even her girlfriend, the savior, was doubting her. They also planned for her to disappear after throwing some magic at the crowd. Although now she was worried she may have actually hurt someone but even worse, she could've hurt Emma with the display.

The door to her office creaked slightly and a fireball appeared in her hand, ready to be thrown.

"Hey, it's me," Emma said holding up her hands. "Just me."

"Swan…" Regina muttered, putting the fireball out.

"An earthquake?" Emma questioned.

"I know…" Regina shook her head, walking over to her. "Everyone said big display...Henry said big display. Did anyone get hurt? Are you okay?"

"Just a little bruise you could kiss better later," Emma said with a smirk.

Regina rolled her eyes. She obviously didn't even need to worry about Emma. "You think they bought it?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Emma chuckled. "Yeah, surprisingly, I think they did…It helped we haven't been with each other out in public since the diner."

"Good." Regina nodded and then let out a relieved breath.

"You did great, Regina." Emma reached out and squeezed her forearm with a grin. "But we've still got work to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How about we switch things up a little bit...?


	6. Chapter 6

_Killian hid himself behind a tree, watching as the former queen lifted a bolder with her magic._ _She tossed it away and he couldn't help but look impressed by the feat. Though he wasn't necessarily surprised. As he thought about it, he completely missed Regina spotting him._

_"No," Regina said, shaking her head. Killian removed himself from behind the tree and lifted his hands with a shrug. "What the hell are you doing here?"_

_"First you're burying your heart and now this nonsense. You need my wise voice in your ear after all," he said. He came down the low hill, torch in hand, signaling to Regina what his plan was._

_"Just because you think you solved all my problems back on Neverland doesn't mean you're some wise being now, pirate. No."_

_"No? "No" what?"_

_"You are not following me."_

_"I bloody well am. You're being ridiculous, love. You need my help. That's what friends do after all."_

_"We're not …" She huffed in frustration. "I don't need your help."_

_"I don't really care. You've been attacked twice."_

_"And?"_

_"This witch wants you dead. I won't be having that."_

_"And if she tries to hurt me, you think you'd be helpful?"_

_"I know I'm not Emma. I don't have any magic. But I care just as much as she does, love. That should count for something. Until you are together again someone has to have your back."_

_Regina's silence and pursed lips was sign enough she didn't have much to argue._

_"Don't get in my way."_

_"After you," Killian said, motioning towards the hidden entrance._

* * *

"Anything?" Emma asked. She popped a few pieces of popcorn in her mouth as she sat on the edge of Regina's desk.

"Nothing yet."

"I'm taking this very seriously, trust me, but I'm hungry." Regina frowned at her. "And Henry wants to know when we'll be home."

"Henry? When have you spoken to him? We've been in here together this whole time."

"Texting."

"You got him a phone?"

"Regina …"

"You got our son a phone without talking to me first?"

"Seriously? I didn't even know you were real like a week ago. How am I in trouble?"

Regina stared at the other woman for a moment, finding it hard to be mad at her when she had a mouthful of popcorn. And there was the fact that Emma was right. For now, she wasn't in trouble. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"You're right. I'm sorry. This is just really stressful."

"You hate not having control. I get it, a little. We'll fix it. We always do."

"Right …" Regina turned about to the vial in her hand. "You should go home. Henry needs one of us around while this is going on."

"Why are you assuming it needs to be me?"

"Because I'm supposed to be the villain here, Emma. You saw how quick the town was to blame me even after they obviously  _pretended_  to believe we were in love. That I had changed." Seeing the bits of anger mixed in with some disappointment, made Emma upset herself. She put down the bag of popcorn and hopped down from her spot. "It's funny even with everything that has happened, I still got you both back. Why not think it's me?"

"Are you accusing yourself?" Emma asked, coming over to her. "Regina-"

"It's not too far fetched. I curse everyone, and I get everything I want."

"You had no way of knowing Hook could convince me to get my memories back." Regina looked up from her work when Emma's fingers gently slipped around her arm. "I always know when you're lying, Regina. This time you're not. You said you didn't do it and I believe you. You weren't even a suspect in my mind."

"Even though you know I can't live without my son? Or you?"

"Ah, look at that." Emma smiled and kissed the corner of her mouth. "There you go - telling the truth again."

* * *

_"So, uh, what exactly are we looking for again?"_ _Killian asked, practically breathing down Regina's neck. She shook her head at him._

_"There's a fire in the courtyard. As long as it burns the shield will stay up," Regina said._

_"Aye, I got it. Extinguish the flame. Easy." He received a raised eyebrow. "I could do that in my sleep, love."_

_"I need to put it out. You need to stay out of my way as you promised."_

_"No, I didn't promise that. I somewhat agreed."_

_Killian started to walk forward, planning on taking out the flame himself. He also seemed to forget that only Regina knew the path into the castle. After barely a second step, Regina's hand thumped against his chest to stop him from going any further. Stone tiles littered the ground beneath their feet._

_"Unless you want to be impaled I suggest you follow my lead."_

_"Lead the way, Your Majesty."_

_"Step lightly."_

_It was an easy feat for both of them much to Regina's surprise._

_"I dance quite well actually."_

_"Never would have guessed."_

_"We still have plenty to learn about each other. Maybe. But not if you plan on being alone in this castle forever."_

_"I don't plan on that. I would like to get back to Emma and Henry, but I always lose. So, I don't see that happening."_

_"Villains never win?"_

_"True. Or it's just me."_

_"You can't believe that, love."_

_"I –" Regina stopped spotting something she didn't expect to see. "That's not possible."_

_"What is it?"_

_"The door. It shouldn't be open."_

_"Something tells me a simple door was the last thing on your mind before you cast the curse."_

_"I sealed it with blood magic," Regina said, "I'm the only one who can open it."_

_"Obviously not, love." Killian smirked down at her. "Has the Queen finally met her match?"_

_Regina walked ahead through the door, saying over her shoulder, "Keep trying my patience, Killian Jones."_

_"Well, someone has to keep you on your toes until we get back to Emma." He examined the spotless marble flooring. "A crypt? Your father?"_

_"My mother."_

_"You gave her a tomb this nice after what she's done to you."_

_"She was still my mother."_

_"That's never an excuse," Killian said._

_"Of course, it isn't but I do believe no matter what she did to me I'd still love her regardless."_

_"Well then you have much more humanity I."_

_"No." Regina rested her hand against the stone. "You and I skirt over the past far too much. That was my fault. I forced your hand."_

_"We've gotten even over the years. Like a game. Who was more ruthless?" His chuckle was hollow and humorless just as his browbeaten smile appeared to be. "I won't blame you for that. I killed my father. I made that choice and it was my choice alone."_

_"We're more alike than either of us are comfortable with."_

_"I'd like to believe you and I had an equal chance to win Emma's heart. If we're so like, that is."_

_"Oh, no. As similar as we may be, in that regard, I always win," Regina said, smiling softly at the fact "Anyway, we should get this over with."_

_"I gather this witch is very powerful if she's able to break something called blood magic. Maybe this wasn't the best idea coming from you."_

_"I have not met my match. No matter how powerful she may be, I'm going through this plan with or without your help."_

_"I'm afraid to know what this plan is really about," Killian said to himself as Regina walked away._

* * *

Snow sat with David and Henry at a booth in the diner. Henry was fully engrossed in a comic book as he ate lunch and David was really absorbed in his food. That was until Snow started to get too deep into her book.

"My god," Snow said. Her gasp had David raising and eyebrow at her. "Did you know there's something called "cradle cap"? Babies get it on their heads. It's crusty, yellow, greasy, scaly skin rash."

David reached out and dropped his hand to the center of the book, pulling it away from her grasp.

"Seriously, David. The book uses all of those words."

"Snow, I get being prepared but we're eating," David said. Henry looked up from his book and nodded with a repulsed frown.

"Yeah, Grandma. I didn't need to know that."

"But-"

"Hey, Henry." Ruby appeared from delivering an order to the table behind them. "Belle's back at the library today."

"Really?"

"Yep, saw her going in with loads of book. Wanna come with?"

"Yeah, definitely …" He looked between his grandparents. "Um, is it okay if I go?"

"No arguments here, buddy," David said. Henry finished his drink and hopped up from the booth. Ruby winked at David before leaving them to their conversation. "Snow …"

"Cradle cap, David."

"You know, it goes away. It doesn't hurt the baby."

They both turned their eyes to a woman sitting at a table nearby. David was going to take her word for it so he could finish his lunch without another unappetizing fun fact. Snow, on the other hand, wasn't letting it go.

"It doesn't?" Snow asked.

"Babies are stronger than you think," the woman said. "You're Snow White and Prince Charming, aren't you?"

"Occasionally," David sighed.

"We are. He goes by David here. This is your first time in Storybrooke?"

"I missed the last curse, so…" She shrugged. "Everything in this world is still a bit new."

"You'll get used to it," David said, "Food is much better."

"David," Snow said in warning. She turned back to the woman and asked, "Who were you back in our land?"

"No one you'd remember. Not everyone is famous like the two of you."

"I wouldn't say-"

"It's okay. We all have our purpose. I was a midwife."

"Really?"

"Yes. My name's Zelena. I've seen a lot of new mothers. You'll learn it all quickly. They all do."

"Maybe you can give me – us – some advice. I've been turning every page of every book in town-"

"She's not kidding," David muttered.

"I …Really? It would be an honor." Zelena smiled.

* * *

Emma was brushing her teeth as she sent a text to Regina. She received a smirking emoji in reply. She grinned down at the screen not realizing that she was being consumed by purple smoke.

Half way through her text back she turned back to the sink to spit out the toothpaste. It wasn't until a moment after she didn't that, that the sink was too shiny and the counter around it was too fancy for her parent's apartment.

Her eyes inspected the bright lighting and the pristine condition of the bathroom she was now in. Laying her phone down on the counter, she leaned back into the doorway.

"Regina?" Emma rinsed off her toothbrush and placed it in the cup next to the one that was obviously her girlfriend's along with the one she'd had before the curse was cast.

"Hm?" Regina was laying on her side of the bed with a book in her lap. Her reading glasses were perched on her nose and she was smugly grinning with her phone in her hand.

"You just can't get enough of me, can you?" Emma asked. She grabbed her phone and turned the light out.

"Technically, you live here."

"Oh, please, don't smother me with your love." Emma slipped under the covers and shot off a text to let her parents know she was okay. Regina leaned over and kissed her, pulling away and leaving her thumb to stroke Emma's cheek.

"I see you every day and it's still not enough. You have sneak to be with me."

"We can scrap this plan, Regina. I want to get your memories back, but I won't let you be miserable while doing it. We can find another way."

"No." Regina shook her head, removing her glasses. "No. I'm just nursing my separation anxiety. I understand how important this is. I want my memories back just as much as anyone else."

Jingling sounded in the doorway and Duchess came bounding in. She looked ready to start howling about being on the floor. Regina narrowed her eyes at the puppy and refused to give into the big eyes pleading at her. Emma laid across her legs to pick the dog up from the floor and placed her on the foot of the bed.

"Emma-"

"You promised to try and get to know Duchess. She's a great dog. Just a little spoiled but you can relate, Your Majesty."

"Is that-"

"It's a compliment. My Queen." Emma kissed her knuckles just as Duchess settled herself in the small space between them and rested her head on Regina's thigh. Reluctantly, Regina let her fingers fall to the silky, furry head and tried to ignore the way Duchess' tail wagged softly against Emma's leg. She looked back up to Regina. "Sweet dreams?"

"No sweeter than reality, my love."

Emma pressed their lips together. Once they parted Regina turned the light out, settling down under the covers with Duchess nestled between them.


	7. Chapter 7

David stepped over a fallen tree trunk with the Merry Men spread out across the forest. Emma stopped behind them and waved at her father to keep going forward.

"What exactly are you doing?" Regina asked on the other end, frowning into a test tube whose contents weren't the color she was hoping for. She heard a branch snap in the background. "Are you in the woods?"

"Yeah." She looked around, no sign of even a bird in the area. "First one of the dwarves, possibly Neal, definitely Hook …and now one of the Merry Men. It's very weird. I just met Robin Hood."

"Your true love is the Evil Queen why do things still surprise you?"

"Formerly the Evil Queen-"

"Guys!"

"Okay, I gotta go," Emma said, "I think David found something."

"Be careful. Whatever beast is out there snatching people … I don't want it to take you too."

"I promise I'll be fine. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Emma," David called. She hung up the phone and walked over to rejoin the search party. "Look at this."

A bloodied leaf.

"Kidnapped and injured. The day just keeps getting better," she said. She looked at the leaf and back down to the ground. Just under Robin's foot was a bit more blood. "Under your foot."

Robin stepped back and looked down at the crimson staining the dirt and his boot. Emma glanced around for the rest of the trail and when she found it not a second later, she stood up from squatting over the first drop of blood. She pointed behind Robin, making a point to speak before everyone rushed off. This wasn't looking to good for their friend.

"Either we find him injured or …dead," Emma said. Robin frowned, already refusing to believe that would be true. "Listen, I know it's the last thing you want to think about but I want you to be prepared. Just in case."

"I won't think like that."

"I understand."

"We hope he's alright too. Whatever attacked him has our friends," David said. Robin nodded and gestured for his men to start following the trail to find Little John. Once he was out of earshot, he turned to Emma who was looking worried. "We'll find Hook and Neal."

"Yeah." Emma sighed. She started to walk forward to not lose the search party. "Just when I thought I had enough to worry about."

"Something tells me part of that is me and your mother," he said, looking almost apologetic. "The baby."

"No-"

"Emma, I know we're not the best parents. We're still learning and we're trying."

"I didn't say you were bad parents."

"I know but we don't have the best track record."

"You mean the wardrobe thing?" Emma questioned, stepping over another fallen tree. "I'm over it."

"I may not seem like the brightest but I'm a bit less clouded than your mother. I knew with Regina and I noticed with the announcement of the baby …it upset you. Whenever you're ready to talk about that with us, we'll be here."

"There's nothing to talk about,  _Dad_."

"Well, then we will continue to stress that this baby was never meant or going to replace you, Emma." She paused and he touched her shoulder gently, kissing the top of her head. "Nothing has been more fulfilling to me than being  _your_  father and getting to know who you are. I promise you that."

Emma stayed silent and watched David keep walking ahead. It all sounded sincere and he was being genuine but she couldn't help the hurt. 28 years of it is a lot to let go of.

"Here!" Robin shouted, breaking her out of her train of thought. She sprinted ahead to catch up with them as Robin assessed his wounds as David checked for a pulse. "John, we're here. We've got you."

"Is he okay?" Emma asked. "Alive?"

"Yeah, but he'll need a hospital though," David answered. "I've never seen a bite like this before."

"If it's not a dog bite then neither have I. I'm calling an ambulance," Emma said fishing out her phone.

They got John back to the road, met with the ambulance. He was rushed inside the vehicle, Robin adamant about staying with him. David offered the rest of the Merry Men a ride there but some of them refused, choosing to keep watch over their camp. Emma decided to drive to the hospital as well to see if he'd be okay enough to tell them what attacked him soon.

Not even ten minutes later, they were all bursting through the doors of the ER. Nurses swarmed them insisting not everyone could follow the doctors inside. David, Emma, and Robin managed to slip through at Whale's behest.

"B.P. dropping fast!"

"What does that mean?" Robin asked, looking at Emma for answers.

"Nothing good," she admitted following behind the nurse and Whale through the emergency wing.

"What did this to him?" Whale asked.

"Don't know. Never seen it before," Emma answered. "Can you help him?"

"As best I can without knowing what happened." Emma's retort was interrupted by John starting to convulse on the gurney. Robin launched forward in reaction, but David held him back at the nurses held on to him in attempt to keep him still. "We need to sedate him. 15 milligrams of lorazepam."

"Why? What is that?" Robin asked, suspicious of the syringe he was being handed. "What's happening to him?"

"He's going into shock," Whale said. He grabbed John's arm and started to inject the sedative but hesitated when a pained and panicked cry erupted from him. Whale recoiled, and Emma pushed one of the male nurses aside to see what was happening. She flinched away as a snake like tail appeared.

"What the hell …" Emma muttered.

It whipped around striking whoever was close. Emma dodged the first swing only to be hit a second time when the strange transformation finally took place. She was knocked back into a shelf of supplies. For several minutes, trapped under the shelf all she could hear was the screeching of the monkey creature Little John had turned into and things being shattered.

"What the hell was that?" Whale questioned.

Robin and David lifted the shelf from on top of Emma. "Emma? Are you okay?" David asked. She didn't immediately get up but put her arm over her head, too tired to move.

"I'm okay. But I'm going to need a drink after this."

"You and I both," Robin murmured still staring in disbelief at the broken window where the flying monkey – his former friend – escaped.

* * *

"Explain it to me again," Regina said.

Emma cringed as Regina dabbed a cotton ball against her cheek. She had come out of the monkey incident at the hospital mostly unscathed, aside from a few scratches. She was fine otherwise, but a bleeding cut wasn't going to convince Regina.

"Little John was bitten by what I'm assuming was a flying monkey and now he's a flying monkey," Emma said. She sighed and finished the rest of her scotch. Regina frowned. "Forget that. How is the potion going?"

Regina pursed her lips and finished putting the band aid on her face before turning to the potion making that was happening on the table of her office. She picked up glass flask with a brown liquid inside. "I have something."

"Did it work?"

"We'll see. Hopefully, we'll be one step closer to putting this nightmare behind us."

"I know this has been hard on you. I want to figure this out as fast as possible, too."

"I have you and Henry. You remember me. I suppose, I don't have much to complain about."

"You haven't been outside in days. You can't actually go anywhere. It sucks."

"That's one way to put it. Fingers crossed." Emma crossed her fingers and grinned just to amuse her girlfriend. It did at least get a smile out of her.

She looked at the flask and then drunk some of the brown liquid. They both waited in silence for a second. Emma was hopeful after seeing the hint of a smile on her face that quickly vanished. Although, that could've meant anything.

"Do you remember?" Emma asked.

Regina threw the flask into the mirror in response, clinching her fist to resist grabbing something else to throw. Emma stood up and rounded the table, gently taking her wrists. "I guessing it didn't work. Unless you and your office had a big fight in the last year?"

"I must have missed an ingredient," Regina muttered.

"You can just try again?"

"That was the last drop of that potion. There's nothing left."

"Calm down. There's another way. There's always another way."

"I can't remember anything and neither can anyone else."

"Except for the person who cursed the town." Regina looked up when Emma paused. "Of course …why didn't I think of that before? The monkeys."

"What are you talking about?"

"Flying monkeys," she whispered. She grabbed Regina and kissed her before pulling away. "Flying monkeys!"

"You're not making any sense, Emma."

"I was thinking maybe there were multiple threats. Whoever was kidnapping people at the line and whoever cast the curse but they're the same person. Who else uses flying monkeys?"

"The Wicked Witch."

"Yes." Emma stopped pacing around her and paused at her shoulder. "She's real, right?"

"Yes. Oz is a realm somewhere just like the Enchanted Forest is. But why would the Wicked Witch curse us?"

"I don't know. Did you ever go to Oz? Did my parents?"

"Oz was the least of my worries. I can't speak for your parents."

"But this is good. You don't have to make anything. Because now we have a person to catch."

"How?" Regina frowned. "We don't even know who the Wicked Witch is."

"All of this. Hiding you has been a con."

"Making the potion is useless now."

"Yeah but this is the wrong con."

"Emma, I love you, really…but you're speaking as if I'm well versed in cons. And you know I'm not. Is this a prison thing?"

"No. It's an old trick. Bail bonds, undercover ops. Practically basic 'to catch a criminal' play." She leaned against Regina's desk, making sure this fit the situation, which it fit almost any situation similar to this. "You smoke out the perp by making them think you're onto them. If the person who cast the curse thought we were about to make a memory potion …"

"They'd want to stop us."

"And we set a trap for them when they do. So, all we need is a way to get the word out to everyone in town so they hear it and then we wait for them."

"Leroy?" Regina smirked.

"You read my mind."

* * *

She kept her eyes trained on the window to her office as best she could but they'd been sitting there for hours in an unfamiliar car – because for once they both agreed the Bug wasn't the stealthiest of colors. Wrappers littered the dash and the cold January air wasn't doing them much good in the car that was completely turned off. Being bundled in a coat, sitting in a car in silence really made her sleepy.

Her eyes slipped closed and her head bobbed forward a bit before she forced herself to wake up. Emma was still very much alert and on her third snack in the last hour. Nearly elbow deep in a Cracker Jack box with a cup of coffee trapped between her thighs. The sight at least reminded her she still had some left in her own cup.

"Are we really going to sit here all night?" She asked, putting her now empty cup back into the cupholder.

"Nope. Just until the person who cursed you guys shows up."

"Is this what you do for a living?"

"Yeah," Emma answered with a mouthful of caramel popcorn. "It's called a stakeout."

"I know you, Emma Swan. You can't sit still in silence for very long. Don't you get …bored?"

"I don't know …sometimes? I find ways to pass the time. Eat, talk …mostly watch. Eat some more."

Regina chuckled, "Always ruled by your stomach." Emma rolled her eyes and closed the now empty box. A pause settled over them and Emma thought maybe Regina had given up on the conversation method to not be bored until she asked, "Does he have friends?"

"Who? Henry?" Emma asked.

"Yes. Does he …in New York?"

"A lot of friends. No girlfriend …or boyfriend yet – at least not that I know about. Why? What is this about?"

"I just …I'm curious. I've avoided asking and Henry would rather talk about anything else than New York. He was happy there? Is?"

"Yeah. If you didn't mean so much to the both of us, I probably wouldn't have come back at all. But you mean too much, and Henry would never be okay with me choosing to ignore what I know is here. It's not what heroes do. Especially not to family. The people they love."

"I definitely hear him saying that."

Emma opened her mouth to say something until she spotted someone moving in the window of Regina's office. "We have a lot to talk about still but the witch is here," Emma said, "Ready?"

"Something tells me this witch won't make it easy," Regina said exiting the car with her.

They made it up to the door to the office. Emma instinctively walked in front of Regina even though she knew a magic fight might erupt if three witches end up in a confrontation. She would be the least experienced of the three. But she was handy with gun and hadn't missed yet.

"You sure whoever's in there can't escape?" she asked.

"I sealed the room with a blood lock. It can keep you out or it can keep you in."

"It's that strong?"

"For me? Yes."

"What does that mean?"

"I means I know what I'm doing," Regina replied and Emma exhaled, hoping she was right. The coffee was already wearing off. She waved her hand over the door handle causing it to simmer. She pushed through the door with Emma on her heels, barrel of her gun at the ready.

The room was trashed and almost thought vacant until a figure in the corner caught their eyes.

"Don't move!" Emma commanded.

"There's nowhere for you to go."

A blast of magic shot out at them from a gloved hand, sending them back into the chairs they had been planted in the day before. Regina recovered in enough time to see only a cloaked figure and Emma got up to see the green smoke engulfing the witch as she poofed away.

"Dammit," Regina muttered, brushing her dress and coat of the glass shards that littered the floor. She reached down to Emma to help her up, her gun forgotten behind them.

"I thought you said they couldn't do that."

"No one can break through blood magic, no matter how powerful they are."

"Then the Wicked Witch is definitely more trouble than I was expecting."

* * *

The storm clouds had been looming for days but that didn't mean much. It wouldn't deter him. The situation could be worse. Given it was already bad, at least having his wallet was just pure luck on his part. If it weren't for the friendship with Regina he had, being screwed would've sounded nice.

But still he was trapped outside of the town with no way of communicating with anyone on the other side of the barrier keeping him out.

Now in the pouring rain, Killian reached out to the town line. The barrier shimmered green and firmly kept him there in the outside world. A land with no fairy tales wasn't terrible but for once their were people to miss and people that, maybe, missed him.

He looked down at his phone and sighed seeing that his call made to Regina wouldn't go through. Everyday since he fell out. It never went through just as he could never get back into Storybrooke.


	8. Chapter 8

"Be careful." Regina held her hands out to steady Emma as the younger woman plopped down on her parents' couch. She groaned the moment her back sunk into the cushions. Once she was settled, Regina dropped down next to her and covered her eyes with her hand. Emma reached out and squeezed her shoulder before leaning into her.

David glanced over his shoulder as he got an ice pack out of the freezer. He gave it to Emma, who tucked it against her back. He touched Regina's shoulder briefly before sitting down on the coffee table.

"The wicked witch …"

"Yep." Emma nodded. "I could really use one of Hook's snarky remarks. Regina's not feeling it after what happened last night. We need to figure out who this is."

"Wouldn't it be kinda obvious?" Henry asked, pulling a squirming Duchess back into his lap. "A woman with green skin?"

"Unfortunately, being that we're cursed here in Storybrooke, she'll look like any one of us," Regina murmured.

"Then start somewhere we know she's been," Ruby suggested. She and Snow sat at the island with cups of tea between them. "Regina's office."

"We turned my office inside out. There's nothing to find."

"Mom?" Henry got the attention of both his mothers and sighed, gesturing to Emma. "The blonde one …" Emma snorted and Regina grinned lightly. "Seriously? Mom knows magic. You don't."

"Hey." Emma frowned, sounding offended – even though there was plenty of truth from it.

"You were a bounty hunter and a PI …how else do you investigate when you leave out magic?"

"Oh, hell …" Emma groaned. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration earning a few questioning looks from everyone but Henry. "My brain must have got turned upside down. I didn't even think about it this morning. Maybe there's no trace of magic but maybe there's some physical evidence we missed."

"I suppose that sounds reasonable," Regina said, "I'll take anything at this point because we have people missing. One including Henry's father."

"Still no sign of him?" Snow asked.

"No. And Killian's still missing, too, which means he isn't just hiding out somewhere," Emma said.

"Belle still hasn't seen Gold either."

"And the resident fairy?" Regina questioned.

"Blue hasn't said anything …" Snow said in confusion.

"Not that mosquito." Regina turned to look at Ruby. "Miss Lucas?"

"Tink hasn't said anything," Ruby answered, blushing under the eyes on her. "Although, she's still technically working on getting her magic back."

"I don't know why I thought catching baddies would be a little easier than this." Emma pushed herself off the couch, bringing the ice pack with her. David stood up behind her, knowing she was about to say she was going back to Regina's office.

"Because Pan was a pain in the butt," Henry said. Emma paused her movement and turned to him. She kissed him on the head.

"Exactly. Took the thought right out of my brain." Duchess escaped his hold and reluctantly toed her way across the floor and sat at Regina's feet. Regina looked down at the puppy for only a second before ignoring her again. Emma shook her head and scooped Duchess up and deposited her into Regina's lap. Then she leaned down and kissed her forehead and then her lips. "I'm going to the office. Relax, okay?"

"I may try to."

"I'll take it." She straighten up and turned towards the door. "Anyone who wants to come collect evidence be my guest. Henry be good for your mother."

"I'm going to go help," Ruby said to Snow. The other woman nodded, glancing back to Regina and Henry in the living room. She grabbed her jacket and moved to follow David and Emma out the apartment. But she stopped and took a detour.

Regina raised an eyebrow at her as she took David's spot on the coffee table.

"Can I ask you a weird question?"

"I suppose I can't stop you."

"Do you feel different? Like after we woke up here, did you feel closer to some people that you weren't before? Or distant and you don't know why?"

"Sounds familiar yes."

Ruby nodded, feeling relieved that she wasn't the only one. Duchess had been tucked against Regina's stomach as she laid down but sniffed in Ruby's direction curiously. She barked at her and Regina shushed her with a deathly glare. Ruby reached out and Duchess cowered at her hand but quickly relaxed at the contact.

"Do you feel that with me and you?" Ruby asked. "I feel like I got to know you and maybe we became friends, but I just don't remember any of it. I don't remember how I got to this point. Crazy right?"

"No. We're cursed. A lot could have happened in that year. Just look at Snow." Ruby snorted, feeling unusually at ease around Regina. She hadn't felt that often in the past, even when she and Regina had no problems direct with each other.

"You don't think we …you know …" Ruby tossed an uneasy look over to Emma talking to David.

"Miss Lucas, you are attractive, and I'd be very flattered but …considering the agony I was in when I woke up here, I'm sure I was beyond inconsolable back in the Enchanted Forest. I would've never done anything to betray Emma."

"Oh, no. I didn't think you would. I wouldn't take advantage of that. Ever. Emma is my friend."

"It's certainly possible we could've become friends in a year's time," Regina assured.

"I hoped so."

"Coming, Rubes?" Emma questioned with her hand on the doorknob.

"Yeah." Ruby stood up from the table. "If you need anything, you can call me."

"Thank you, Miss Lucas."

"Ruby. Call me Ruby."

Regina gave her short smile and a nod as she left with Emma.

* * *

Neal jolted from his sleep as the thunder rolled overhead. The creaking of the door was a second of reprieve from the constant noise that had been be bothering him for ages. His eyes turned to his left. He actually hoped the thunder would continue but it could actually make things worse.

"Papa, please. The noise is killing me," Neal said, resignation obvious in his voice.

"Spinning cleans the mind, soothes the soul," Rumple murmured and kept on spinning. "It cleans the mind, it soothes the soul. Cleans the mind, soothes the soul…"

Neal sighed in frustration. He roughly scrubbed his face with his palms and stood up. His feet carried him to the bars separating them. He wrapped his hands around them. "This is far from soothing. It's driving me crazy."

"Cleans the mind, soothes the soul."

"You know, saying that just makes you a liar," Neal said. Nothing provoked his father though. He just kept spinning and muttering constantly. "Papa?"

"…soothes the soul …"

"Neither of us have slept in days. How about you quit it? Gold is useless to us in here."

"Cleans the mind…"

"Shit," he hissed.

Being trapped with his father didn't seem to be the worst thing in theory but that was only if he forgot about the voices and demons that would haunt anyone Dark One. Separation from everything all at once obviously drove him mad instantly. Neal, however, was slowly losing his sanity to the sounds of spinning gold.

He pushed away from the bars and paced around his cell and said, "Tell me about Belle."

Rumple slapped his hand against the spinner, stopping it. He stopped murmuring the same lines and finally looked at Neal. His eyes were a little less hazy now.

"Belle," his whispered, "Belle…Bae."

"I'm here, Papa." Neal returned to the bars. "You tell me about Belle. I'll tell you about Emma …and Killian. Henry."

"Belle."

* * *

"Thanks for the ice cream, mom," Henry said as they walked through the park. Although, he cast narrowed eyes at her sensing there was something more to it than letting him indulge for the fun of it. And his mother had also offered to bring Duchess along as well. "You don't normally let me have ice cream. I usually have to ask Ma or get Ma to ask you. So I'm suspicious."

"And rightfully so." Regina grinned, tucking her hand holding Duchess's leash in her coat pocket. "I figured things must be abrupt for you. You and your mother must have had fun in New York and now you're back to Storybrooke again."

"Well, mom, Storybrooke isn't exactly boring."

"I know but it's not normal either."

"So, you got me ice cream?"

"I know it's not an equivalent, but the ice cream wasn't exactly for that. It was an apology." Henry frowned, not understanding what she meant. She stopped walking and so did he. Both seemed to get the idea to take a seat on the bench.

Regina frowned but picked Duchess up from the ground when she noticed the miserable look on the puppy's face. She couldn't believe Emma was serious when she said Duchess didn't like to be on the ground. When it was just them alone in the house the Spaniel had no problem following her around until she sat down. And when Emma was around Duchess seemed to be fighting her for the blonde's attention. But she promised to give the dog a chance. She wasn't that bad – though she'd never admit it to anyone.

"The ice cream is more of a part of the apology," Regina said. Duchess burrowed into her lap, tucking herself into Regina's coat. "I want to know that I haven't forgotten the things I've done. And I'm working to be better. I'm not using my love for your mother as a shortcut."

"I know you're not evil, mom. I forgive you. It's okay."

Regina gave him a small, not so happy smile. "Before Emma came to town and before the curse broke, I was terrible to the both of you. Even though you and your mother forgive me, it doesn't mean I don't have to apologize. I'm going to work hard to be better." She brushed his growing hair out of his face.

"Well, I forgive you and Ma does too. I guess, you should start working on forgiving yourself."

"How old are you again?" Regina laughed.

"Old enough," Henry said with a smirk.

* * *

"Nothing," David said frustratedly. "No hair, fibers …nothing."

Emma righted one of the overturned chairs and examined some broken glass. She used a pen from Regina's desk to gently move it around. Her phone vibrated in her back pocket and she fished it out to find a message from Regina. She sent one back and glanced to her father and Ruby. David was picking up a box from the floor and Ruby was sitting on the couch inhaling to try and get an unusual scent from the area.

"Anything yet, Rubes?"

"No." She raked her hands through her hair and sighed. "All I'm picking up is you and Regina. There's a hint of something but I doubt I could follow it anywhere."

"Well what about nonhuman stuff? Like perfume? Leather? …not leather?"

Ruby grinned amusingly. "Your jacket?"

"Shut up." Emma scoffed. "Regina is going to talk to Belle…ask her about any physical or distinctive traits about this Wicked Witch. Henry offered to comb through his storybook again, but I doubt those little fuzzy images will be helpful."

"Yeah, you can only point people out from the book if you already know what they look like," David said.

"Guys …" Ruby stood up from the couch breathing in deeply. As badass as it was that her friend was a wolf, the way her nose twitched was actually adorable. "Berries."

"You smell that? Where?"

"The floor. Somewhere close." Emma and David got closer and searched around her feet.

"I got it," David said, finding the partial footprint at the edge of the carpet. "So she stepped in berries …"

"They're poisonous," Ruby informed. David took the crushed piece from the in the carpet and inspected it. "They don't grow everywhere in Storybrooke."

"How do you know?" Emma asked.

"I've run every inch of that forest. It's up towards the north, near the troll bridge. Only place I've ever seen them."

"It's snowing up there."

"It'll be snowing down here soon enough."

"Well, let's hurry up and find this witch. I don't want to be fighting a villain in the middle of winter. This isn't Game of Thrones," Emma said, pulling off her gloves. She looked up to David and Ruby giving her a look. "It's a tv show …nevermind."

David nodded his head but obviously had never heard of it. He grabbed his phone and looked at the text he received. He sighed and tucked his phone away, catching Emma's attention.

"What is it?"

"Uh, your mother needs me to come back to the loft. We're getting a midwife and she wants to meet the both of us."

"I've met her," Ruby said, "The red head? She's intense."

"Is that good or bad for a midwife?" David asked.

"Never been pregnant." Ruby shrugged.

"I was in prison," Emma reminded.

"Right. Sorry," David said.

"You should go," Emma said.

"But we just got a lead."

"She needs you. We'll be fine."

"But what if you run into the Wicked Witch?"

"I'm sure Regina will be there in a heartbeat. She wouldn't pass up the chance. Plus there's a bunch of …Merry Men out in the forest. I think we'll be fine."

"Okay."

"You can always meet us when you're done."

* * *

"As much as I like Hook…" Emma ducked under a branch. "You're more helpful."

"Thanks." Ruby chuckled, pushing the branch out of her way. She gestured to what they were searching for. "I'm sure he could've gotten you here."

"Yeah. Eventually. Although, I'm pretty sure we would've missed the berry stain on the carpet."

"Well, I guess I'll take the compliment," Ruby said. She shoved her hands in her pockets, not nearly as cold as Emma was. "Am I right to guess you usually end up trekking through the woods often?"

"Pretty much, yeah. You're one of the few who doesn't complain. Hook complains. Regina complains."

"Of course she does." Ruby snorted. "She wears Jimmy Choos everywhere. Probably even to bed."

"Oh, no. She hates shoes on the bed. She even hates socks on the bed."

"I could see that."

They started to ascend a snowy hill. Emma glanced back to the mountains in the distance. She never really noticed them before. It somehow made Storybrooke seem so much bigger than it normally felt and then it reminded her of her conflicting thoughts about being back again.

The mountains also reminded her of the conversation she needed to have with Regina.

"I think we got something," Ruby said, squinting through the snowfall. "A farmhouse."

"Oh, the irony."

"You want to make a bet about those slippers?"

"Well…" Emma gave it some thought. How crazy would it actually be for there to be slippers around?

Emma took the lead up to the porch, making her steps light and quiet. Ruby peeked through a window to the right of the door at the same time Emma peeked into the left window.

"There's definitely someone living here," Ruby whispered.

Emma appreciated her acknowledgement of having to adopt a stealthy approach. Emma was considering offering her a position at the station again. She seemed to be a much better partner than Hook who actually was reluctant to go headfirst into danger. And Regina, in this situation, definitely would have took the hands blazing approach.

"Looks empty right now, though," Ruby said, following her with careful footsteps.

"Good hideouts always  _look_  empty. I spent a lot of time tracking down people who don't want to be found." Emma peeked around the corner and Ruby looked over her shoulder.

"Is that a bike?" Ruby asked. "So, she's here?"

"Maybe. Look over there. Storm cellar." The pair eased off the porch and moved towards it. Emma's hand was on her gun …just in case they were going to have the final showdown here. "Ready?"

"We're going down there?" Ruby asked. Emma noticed the wary expression.

"I need to investigate so yeah."

"So, um, I get anxious in dark, enclosed spaces."

"I'll go in first."

"No betting on slippers. You want to bet on Dorothy and Toto being down there?"

"Or flying monkeys?"

"Or munchkins…" Emma raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged. "It could be dangerous for just us to go down there alone. Maybe some magic would help. Have you been practicing?"

Emma looked down at her gun and handed it to Ruby. The other woman knew how to hold it but Emma wasn't positive she knew how to use it efficiently. Hopefully, they wouldn't need a gun or magic. She shoved her gloves into her pocket and rubbed her hands together to get them warm. She closed her eyes for a moment and recalled the last time she and Regina laid in bed together in the morning without a sense of urgency.

Her right hand ignited with a blue flame so bright it made Ruby's eyes sparkle. She closed her fingers over the flame and then opened her hand again, a white ball of magic appeared. She nodded to Ruby.

"We're good."

Emma aimed for the lock but stopped short when her phone gave off a strong vibration in her pocket. Ruby's phone went off as well. Emma checked her messages seeing missed calls from Henry and David.

"Shit," she muttered.

Ruby answered the call. "Hey, Granny. What's up? …What?" Emma looked up from her phone, not getting a chance to call Henry back. "Is anyone hurt? Are you-"

"What's going on?" Emma asked.

"Okay. Okay, we'll be right there." Ruby ended the call and turned to Emma. "The diner was attacked by flying monkeys. Regina was hurt."


	9. Chapter 9

The front windows of Granny's were busted. The front door was barely hanging on. The tables outside were overturned. Emma pushed through the small crowd of people outside who seemed to have vacated the diner because of the attack. An ambulance was just pulling up as she and Ruby walked inside.

The diner was completely wrecked.

"Oh joy...cleaning," Ruby said lifting her boot after stepping in glass.

"Mom!"

Henry ran to Emma tackling her into a firm hug. She wrapped her arms around him, eyes darting near the battered jukebox. Regina was sitting at a booth with Granny holding an ice pack to the back of her head.

Emma pulled Henry away from her to assess him for injuries. Her hands roamed his face and his head.

"I'm okay, Ma. Mom protected me," Henry said swatting her hands away. He appeared fine other than a small cut on his cheek from all the glass that was everywhere. She pulled him forward and hugged him again, kissing the top of his head.

"I don't doubt it," she said.

She looked around the diner in a quick assessment. Her parents were talking with the dwarves. David was holding Duchess on his arm. No one looked to be seriously hurt except Regina who she was determined talk to first.

"I'll be right back. Tell Ruby everything that happened." Henry nodded and walked off to relay his story.

Emma walked over to Regina and Granny. Regina took over holding the ice pack from Granny and the older woman nodded picking up her crossbow from the table. She patted Emma on the back as she started to walk away, "Tough one there."

"Don't I know it." Emma chuckled lightly. "Thanks, Granny."

"No problem."

Emma knelt in front of Regina, finding no glass to be littering the floor there. She reached up and tilted Regina's chin up so she could see better in the flickering light. "I'm going to kill them…her," Emma said. No change in her tone. Completely calm. Regina looked down at her curiously.

"I don't think I like that you said that so evenly," Regina said.

"I'm trembling on the inside."

Regina leaned forward to be a little closer to her, "Me, too." Emma noticed the flicker of pain in her eyes at the movement and she gently slipped her hand against her waist under her blazer. Regina closed her eyes involuntarily to bear the ache.

"Thank you for telling me that," Emma said.

She pulled her hand away and stood up. She pulled up an overturned chair and sat down in front Regina again. She took care to not cause anymore discomfort as she undid the buttons of the blazer. Regina took an easier breath.

"Thank you." Emma nodded and leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to her lips. Regina flinched away and sighed. "I suppose I can't get away with telling you I feel fine."

"No way in hell. As gorgeous as you are, you look terrible. I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"It's not your fault."

"I'm supposed to protect you," Emma argued. She reached out and replaced Regina's hand with her own on the ice pack.

"No. I'm supposed to protect you and Henry from my mistakes…my past."

"What do you mean?" Emma frowned.

"Tink," Ruby's voice caught their ears and they spotted Tinkerbell appearing from the back. It looked as if she involved in the attack as well. Ruby rushed to her and engulfed her in a hug, nearly missing the whimper that escaped. Ruby loosened her arms before stepping back.

"Thank you," Regina said to Tinkerbell and received nod in return.

"I owed you," Tinkerbell said.

"What happened?" Emma asked, looking back to Regina.

"They came for me."

"No," Emma said, shaking her head. "That can't be right."

"It is right, Ma," Henry chimed in, taking a seat in the booth next to them. "One of them tried to take her heart."

"What?"

"My thoughts exactly," Regina said.

"You know what, screw it. We'll figure that bullshit out later. We need to get you to the hospital." Emma stood up and ignored Regina's attempt to protest – and to scold her about her language. She reluctantly put her arm around Emma's shoulder and let herself be pulled up to her feet. The pain was crippling but she kept upright only letting a groan slip. "Dad-"

"I'll take care of everything, Emma," he said, looking worriedly in Regina's direction.

"You should stay," Regina said. "I'll be fine. It's nothing I can't heal."

"We're going. They just attacked you. They need to regroup, I got time."

The EMTs met them halfway and though Regina protested every step Emma helped her onto the stretcher. Tink was already sat inside being looked at by another EMT.

"Can I ride with mom?" Henry asked looking between his mothers.

"You can but you have to behave. Do everything they tell you," Emma said. Henry nodded vigorously and then climbed inside to sit down. Emma looked down at Regina who was unusually quiet. The was sign enough that Regina was hurt. A bruise or cut here and there wouldn't stop her from her usual sass. Emma took her hand and placed, feather light kisses over her knuckles. "I love you."

Regina tightened her hand around Emma's fingers. "Swan…"

"I know you don't like hospitals. I'll be right behind you, I promise."

"You better or you'll be on the couch for the foreseeable future."

"I believe you." Emma chuckled. "I'm right here."

Regina nodded even though her eyes still looked unsure. Emma kissed her forehead and left her lips there for a long moment. Then she kissed the back of Regina's hand one more time for letting the EMTs get Regina into the ambulance.

* * *

"Don't you think you've had enough of those…for a lifetime?" The clerk asked handing Killian the change for his purchase. A purchase he'd been making very often since his exile from Storybrooke.

"If you truly knew what a whole lifetime entailed, you'd surely know there's no such thing as  _too much_ ," Killian answered.

"You're a weird guy, Jones."

"See you tomorrow, Soto," Killian said. Dismissing the same conversation, they had every day, he walked out of the small convenience store and sighed at the empty parking lot. He ignored the mutter of, "I hope not" from Soto and continued on to the lone pick up truck under the flickering lamp.

All the habits he picked up under stress and frustration would earn him a lot of reprimanding from everyone he knew in Storybrooke. But after as many years as it'd been, he'd surprisingly gained a tolerance for bad habits. Easy to let go and easy to get back if he wanted. So, Neal and Emma and Regina didn't need to know about his daily diet of cigarettes and beer to fill in the spaces when to-go snacks didn't interest him.

Killian got into the new acquired pick up and popped off the top of the beer on the dashboard. After a long drink from it, a lighter and a single cigarette followed routinely. Once that was settled, a drag with enough smoke to fill the cabin, he turned over the engine and pulled off.

Like Storybrooke, Castine, Maine, had very few residence and even fewer visitors. There may have been a single Sheriff as well, but despite all the violations he was committing, Killian had never even spotted any authority around the town.

Although, it wasn't like he stayed for long. Castine was only for the necessities, otherwise he only spent most of his time miles outside the town's limits. A 10 minute drive with cigarette and beer in one hand and a few fingers steering the wheel led him to a dead end in the road.

Killian parked on the side of the road, stopping only a few yards away from what was the next town.

Welcome to Storybrooke.

He stared at it for awhile before cutting the engine. The headlights left the fading sign in darkness.

"What now, eh?" Killian muttered to himself. He took the beers in his hands, settling the opened one in the empty slot of the carrier. The cigarettes were left behind except for the one he'd started, and he started to walk until he disappeared into the cover of the trees.

"Nothing new for me, I see," he said, following the path of broken bottles until it led him to the spot he'd left. He dragged the cigarette against the barrier keeping him out, finding no give anywhere. All it did was spark the butt of the cigarette.

Killian whistled a familiar tune as he tapped the butt against the parts of the barrier he hadn't tested yet. It only gave him the same results he'd been receiving since he'd been casted out. He took a seat next to the pile of rocks he formed and finished his beer.

" _Across the western ocean I must wander…_ " Killian crooned. The forest around the line was plagued in completely silence and he had to pass the time somehow.

Surely, there was plenty to do while outside of Storybrooke. Emma and Henry had done it for a year but they had no memories. Killian had most of his memories. He had enough of them still intact for his only task to be finding a way back in to Storybrooke.

All the time he spent alone, trying his best to do what he believed the heroes would do, he struggled to accept what he felt rather than what he thought was logical. Having feelings wasn't logical anyway so he eventually would have to stop fighting that there were emotions still possible within him. Feelings a vengeful pirate did not have.

Vengeful didn't involve missing people.

Vengeful never included being smitten with anyone.

Lust and desire? Sure. But things such as butterflies didn't co-exist for centuries with a stomach full of rum.

So everyday spent throwing rocks and empty – sometimes half full – beer bottles at the barrier in hopes that there was a way in, was all for the faces that lived on the other side. He refused the mere existence of love fluttering anywhere near him at the thought of someone in particular.

Of course, he didn't miss verbal jousting with Regina – Regina always winning.

Of course, he didn't miss a town full of heroes and their families.

Couldn't be why he wasting hours and hours, hoping for a way in.

At least that was what he was saying to himself.

" _And the soles are looking for better weather_ …" He sang quietly and sighed, throwing another rock roughly into the barrier. It rebounded and bounced off a tree behind him. "… _And it's all for me grog_ …"

Wiping his hand across his face, Killian picked up the beer bottle and stared into it for a long moment. Then he heaved it into the barrier, watching it shatter and rain glass around him.

* * *

Every night grew little more uneasy. The more they unraveled, the more questions arose. And the more questions the more stress it caused the town's protectors. Although it seemed no one more than Emma. It was a chore to sleep. Duchess sleeping at their feet and Regina tucked against her back usually got her a decent few hours.

She'd only gotten a few hours.

The bed moved abruptly, startling Emma and Duchess. Regina's scream tore Emma out of her sleep. She'd never heard it before and regretted she hadn't ever had a reason in the past for Regina to be that scared. Emma turned over and Duchess practically flew off the bed in fright.

"Hey." Emma took Regina's arm, putting a gentle arm around her waist to calm her. "Regina, it's okay. We're okay."

Regina swallowed a harsh breath, still jumpy under Emma's touch. She brushed Emma off, looking ready to leave the room for some reason.

"The wicked witch… she's-"

"Not here. Regina, you're safe. Everything is fine. It was a dream. Just a dream." Emma reached for her again and was relieved to find she didn't resist. She wrapped her arms around Regina. "What did you see?"

"They took it," Regina said, sounding hoarse and out of breath. "My heart. They took it."

"Regina, they didn't take anything. I promise you, they didn't." Emma slipped her hand over Regina's chest and Regina covered the hand with her own. "It's here."

Emma laid her head on Regina's shoulder, settling in the quiet. She was expecting Henry to have heard the commotion behind their door but when the silence continued, it was possible he was more of a heavy sleeper than she thought.

"I'm sorry," Regina said, "I'm not…things don't affect me this way."

"You were attacked. I'd be worried if you weren't a little scared after what happened."

"Emma, I lived a long life before I enact the curse."

"Don't…don't tell me. I'll just be pissed at everybody."

"I deserved it. I was the Evil Queen."

"Emphasis on the word 'was'." Emma sighed. "How's your head?"

"It's fine. Where's the dog?"

Emma pulled away from Regina and glanced around. "Duchess?" She leaned over the side of the bed and whistled. Duchess crawled out from her hiding spot under the bed, reluctant to show herself. Emma didn't give her time to hide again if she changed her mind, scooping her up and bringing her back on top of the bed.

"She's fine. All good," Emma said depositing the puppy into Regina's lap. It was almost a pastime to watch Regina try her hardest to look put out by the dog but it wasn't as convincing now that she's been sneaky enough to see that Regina had used a baby voice when talking to Duchess on multiple occasions. "Are you all good?"

"I will be. Once we solve this Wicked Witch problem."

"And we will."

"Doesn't feel that way."

Emma moved closer, hand disappearing under Regina's shirt. The other woman shivered under the warm hand on her back and their eyes met. Her skeptical look rivaled the glimmer of mischief shining in Emma's eyes. "I feel guilty with all this shit going on but maybe I can indulge you," Emma said. She pressed her lips to Regina's neck and kissed behind her ear. "Can I take your mind off of it? It's been a while."

"Emma-"

"I miss you."

"We see each other every day. You…live here."

"Not like that." Emma murmured against her ear before pulling away.

"The dog."

"Easily fixed."

She picked Duchess up and walked over to the little bed near the closet. Duchess whined, seemingly aware that she was being given the boot for the night. Regina watched Emma take the bed and disappear out of the room to settle Duchess in elsewhere. She reappeared a moment later and got back into bed with a hopeful look.

"Where did you take her?"

"Henry's room," Emma said, "Now, where were we?"

"Nowhere."

Emma snorted and resumed her advances with care, in case Regina really was going to reject the idea. She was pleasantly surprised with Regina mimicking her previous move, slipping her hand under her shirt to send a tingle up her spine.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"You do that," Regina said quietly, pulling away from Emma. She moved her hand up to Emma's neck, brushing her thumb against her throat. "You'll be the death of me, Miss Swan."

They met in a kiss, Emma eagerly flipped them back onto the bed. "Famous last words." Emma's hands made quick work of the buttons on Regina's pajama shirt. She kissed down her neck to her collar bone as a pair of strong legs wrapped around her waist. Kisses and caresses turned more heated and feverish, clothes being tugged every way and not yet removed. Although silk and cotton were certainly heading towards the floor until Regina reached out as Emma sat up to remove her t-shirt.

Emma froze at the cry of pain that came from under her. She pulled her shirt back down quickly to see what happened and immediately spotted the silk night shirt fallen away from Regina's left side, revealing a big purple bruise coming from her back.

"Regina…what happened?" Emma asked, settling down on the bed and taking Regina's arm with care.

"I was…the jukebox and I had a falling out in the diner that day," Regina said. She winced when Emma touched her shoulder blade.

"Did they check this out at the hospital?"

"Yes. It didn't hurt at the time."

"Let me go get some ice," Emma said as she got up from the bed.

Regina rolled her shoulder to loosen the stiffness, but it only ended up causing her a sharp pain. She tried to be annoyed when she heard jingling from outside the door. Emma wasn't that fast but Duchess, however, was the clingiest being Regina had ever met and she that's exactly who scampered through the door from the hallway. She vanished from Regina's sight until she was on her side of the bed, sitting and waiting expectantly for Regina to pick her up.

She groaned in frustration but leaned over, skillfully keeping her balance, and grabbed the puppy with her good arm. Depositing Duchess in Emma's spot, Regina narrowed her eyes at her only receiving another expectant look.

"I'm the Queen. If anyone is being picked up and carried around, it's me." She spoke in a sharp tone but obviously Duchess did catch on to any of it.

"Stop fighting with the dog, Gina," Emma said, walking in with stuff in her hand. She shooed Duchess out of the way and sat down. She handed over three aspirins in a small, plastic cup met for cough syrup. She sat the cold bottle of water between them and carefully pressed the ice pack to Regina's shoulder, earning a relieved sigh. "I can never have you to myself. If it's not my parents, it's your damn heroics."

"I'm not the one with the title of 'Savior'," Regina said just before she swallowed down the pills and drunk some of the water.

"You do more Savior _ing_  than I do some days."

Emma kissed her temple and adjusted so they both could at least lay back until sleep was ready to recapture them again. But both women had a feeling they might be out for sleep for the night, so it was best to comfortable. Come daylight more stree would await them anyway.


End file.
